


Fire and Ice

by Knight_Writer_95



Series: The Fire and Ice Saga [1]
Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Fantasy, Friendship, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-03-18 23:44:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3588387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knight_Writer_95/pseuds/Knight_Writer_95
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year after the Great Thaw, Elsa has adjusted to her role as a queen but still has trouble with her powers. She is being pressured to find a suitor but resists for fear of hurting someone. When a twenty-first century wizard pursues a warlock to nineteenth century Arendelle, he ends up having to stay a while when his way home is damaged. Is this Elsa's chance to learn to control her powers? And what will happen when the wizard starts developing feelings for the Snow Queen?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Not so Ordinary Day

Elsa, the Queen of Arendelle, sat in her study going over many documents, bills, trade agreements, and new laws signing them as she saw fit. But eventually her mind wandered as it often did when she spent hours on end cooped up attending to her duties as Queen. In recent months the Royal Court had started suggesting that it was time for Elsa to find a suitor from one of the neighboring kingdoms. A few potential suitors had come to try and win the hand of the beautiful queen but they had all been turned down. Elsa wasn't as prone to believe in love at first sight as her sister was but if she was going to marry she did want it to be for love. There were some suitors she had taken a real interest in but it was hard for Elsa to let herself fall in love for one particular reason. She still had trouble with her powers of ice and snow.

The townspeople had been accepting of her and her gift but it was still hard to control, especially when she got emotional. She was still afraid that she might hit someone's heart if her powers got too out of control and it was that fear that kept her from taking a suitor. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little jealous of Anna, who had gotten married to Kristoff within a year of meeting him. Elsa wished she could one day experience the love the two of them shared but was doubtful if that day would ever come.

After trying to read another complex bill that seemed more and more incomprehensible the minute Elsa finally groaned and put the parchment down. The Snow Queen got up from her chair and walked over to a window that overlooked the town that surrounded the castle. People were bustling about their business, chatting with one another and children ran around playing. Elsa smiled as she watched the scene below her, thankful that she was accepted as she was. Just as she was about to return to her work she heard a metallic crash outside her study.

"Oops, sorry!"

Elsa rolled her eyes and a small grin tugged at the corners of her lips. She could always tell when her energetic and free spirited sister was about to interrupt her work. Sure enough not even a minute later the doors burst open and the chaos that was Anna followed.

"Hey Elsa, you wanna build a snowman?"

Now Elsa was really smiling. A little while ago when Anna had asked that question Elsa asked if they weren't a bit old for that now. Anna scoffed and said that you were never too old for a snowman.

"I can't, Anna, I have all this work I have to get through."

"All this? How long have you been working?"

Elsa glanced at the clock and was shocked at the time. It was nearly one-o-clock.

"I've been working for… three hours?"

"That long without a break? Come on Elsa, you are getting out of this study for some fresh air and fun, and no arguments, it'll do you good."

"When did you become my doctor?" asked Elsa with an amused look on her face as allowed her sister to drag her out.

"Since you became queen and often need telling when to stop and just have a good time."

"Can we stop by the kitchen? I'm a little hungry."

"Oh, sure! We can get something chocolate!" Anna exclaimed and practically ran towards the kitchen.

If there was one thing guaranteed to get Anna out of the bed in the morning it was chocolate. The young woman was practically addicted to it and there was no doubt in Elsa's mind that if she could, Anna would have chocolate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

An hour later the sisters were walking back to the castle laughing and accompanied by Kristoff and Sven. Elsa and Anna had run into the two as they were on their way back to the palace after making their deliveries and the women had invited to come along and have a snowball fight. Said fight had ended when Elsa had used her powers to bury the ice mason and his reindeer in a small pile of snow.

"I still think using your powers is cheating," Kristoff said as they approached the gate.

"You're just sore because you lost," Anna teased as she batted her eyelashes at her husband.

"Next time I'm bringing Olaf."

"I guess that's fair," laughed Elsa. "Sven isn't much use to you in a snowball fight."

"Don't you listen to her, buddy," Kristoff told Sven.

The trio were about to walk into the palace when they heard an explosion somewhere in the distance.

"Close the gates!" someone yelled as soldiers immediately began hurrying the royal family inside.

"Please stay here your majesty, you'll be safe," said a lieutenant before leaving to join the men assembling to go confront whoever was causing the explosions.

"What do you think is going on?" Anna asked immediately.

"Well obviously we're under some sort of attack," said Kristoff.

"Then it's unlike any attack I've seen," Elsa commented. "The explosions started in the town square and it looks like they're staying there."

"We can't see anything from here, though," the younger sister complained.

"We're not sneaking out so you can get a better look," Elsa said before Anna could even form the question.

"You're no fun," she pouted.

"Fun? Anna, I'm your sister! I'm trying to keep you safe!"

Anna sat in a chair but still looked pouty as her elder sister returned her attention to the fight happening outside. Suddenly from the middle of the town a column of energy erupted into the sky followed by a shockwave that rattled every stone in the ancient palace.

"What was that?" asked Kristoff as he regained his balance.

"I have no idea," said Elsa

"Come on, I don't hear any more explosions, let's go take a look," Anna said as she ran for the door.

"Anna wait, we don't know if it's safe yet out there!"

"Oh come on, we'll have Kristoff with us and there are already soldiers out there! Now come on!"

"Where does she get it from?" asked Kristoff as the two blondes followed the redhead.

"I have no idea."

As Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff made their way to the town square they ran into the returning soldiers who were carrying someone on a stretcher with them.

"Sergeant, what happened?" Elsa asked immediately.

"We don't rightly know, your highness. All we know is that it seems this man in the stretcher was in some kind of fight with another one like him."

Elsa took a look at the man in the stretcher. He had wild hair that stuck up at impossible angles, a rather handsome face, and was wearing a waistcoat, a fine white shirt, black trousers, and a black frock coat.

"Where is the other one?" she asked after a moment of staring.

"Done, your majesty."

"You mean he got away?"

"No, I mean he's gone. He… exploded somehow. This man said that we should evacuate the town because everything within a four mile radius would be destroyed if he failed."

"Failed what?"

"We don't know. We've never seen anything like it before your majesty."

"Well what are you going to do with him?"

"Lock him in the dungeon until he comes around for questioning and for safety. We don't know how dangerous he is and if he poses a threat to us. He was part of a battle that destroyed part of the town square. Until we know that I believe it is in everyone's best interests that we keep this man contained."

"Very well, but inform me when he wakes up. I'd like to ask him some questions myself."

"As your majesty wishes," the sergeant bowed, and led the troops back to the palace.

"Who do you suppose the stranger is?" asked Anna.

"I don't know, but it sounds like he just saved the kingdom. We'll have to wait for him to wake up before we learn anything else about him."

* * *

Over an hour later the stranger had still not woken up and the sisters were trying to find things to do to fill the time with. Anna was on her fifth mug of hot chocolate and Elsa had tried to return to her paperwork but couldn't concentrate as her mind kept wandering back to the stranger. Eventually she had given up and had started making small sculptures using her powers. Kristoff sat in a chair next to the fireplace and stared into the fire.

After what seemed an eternity they heard footsteps and the sergeant entered the room.

"Your majesty, the stranger has woken up."

"Thank you, sergeant. I'd like to talk to him first."

"Of course, though I must ask a guard be inside with you for your own safety."

"If it makes you comfortable…" Elsa acquiesced as she stood from her seat.

"Be sure to tell me all about it after you're done!" Anna asked with a large grin on her face.

"I know you'll badger me about it all day if I don't so I don't really have a choice do I?" Elsa laughed as he followed the sergeant to the prison cells.

It was time to find out who this stranger was and what he was doing in Arendelle.


	2. Welcome to Arendelle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stranger arrives in Arendelle and promptly finds himself under attack. But why?

Arendelle in the mid-nineteenth century was an interesting place. In the early twenty-first century, humans are so used to being surrounded by machines and technology I'm sure that the teens would cease to function if they were unplugged. They wouldn't last an hour where I was without access to Facebook and Twitter. Heck, they might not even last a minute with how primitive everything was. And to think I was here because of a Warlock. But I'm starting to get ahead of myself. My name is Daniel Griffin, I'm a wizard. You heard right, I'm an honest to goodness genuine wizard. Just don't ask for me for endless purses, love potions, or to do parties because I will turn you into a spider and step on you. No, not really, but I will slam the door in your face. Now let's wind the clock back a bit and start at the beginning of this fiasco.

I had been sent back to nineteenth century Arendelle by the Confederation of Wizards in pursuit of a warlock known as Mortimer. He had been sent there ahead of me by his boss in search of an Elemental that was rumored to have lived in the area in that time period. An Elemental is an individual that has the ability to manipulate one of the four elements, fire, earth, wind, and water. There was one other element that could be manipulated but it was exceedingly rarest of the rare among elementals. The element is called aether, and it's the energy that makes up the universe as we know it. It was my mission to find the Elemental residing in Arendelle before Mortimer and ensure his or her safety. If I failed it would be the end of the world for wizards and non-wizards alike.

However, when I got to Arendelle I was fascinated by it. It was so different from the world I was used to. There were no skyscrapers, no cars, no concrete, little pollution, and no signs pandering to the populace trying to get you to buy some piece of junk you don't even need. While there would be some comforts of the twenty-first century I would miss such as a flush toilet and a good book store, the rest of the time period was rather interesting. Things were undeniably simpler here. People were smiling, laughing, and taking time to stop and smell the flowers. Nobody was walking with their nose buried in their phone or tablet and hurrying to whatever important meeting they had next. It was peaceful unlike anything else I had experience before. But of course, I wouldn't be me if the idyllic scene lasted.

"GRIFFIN!"

I looked in the direction in the direction the voice had come from but I already knew who it'd be. It was Mortimer. Damn. I was supposed to keep a low profile, follow him, and capture him in a discreet location with preferably no witnesses. This confrontation was in the middle of the frickin town square. I had been so wrapped up in the new environment that I had gotten sloppy and now had to worry about innocents getting hurt in the ensuing battle.

Mortimer threw the first punch, launching a blast of kinetic energy at me which I just managed to avoid. It blew a good sized hole in the side of a building but on the upside the civilians got cleared out very quickly. Rolling into a crouching stance, I charged up a ball of green fire in my hand and fired it back. Mortimer flicked his wrist and conjured up a blast of air that sent my spell hurtling back at me. I threw up a shield just in time to stop it but got thrown back a bit. I pulled my staff out of my pocket and magically expanded it back to its full length. Now I was ready for bear. Mortimer threw another spell at me but I once again deflected it before charging another energy blast and throwing it in retaliation. My opponent used his own staff to catch the energy, absorb it, and redirect it at me. I had to master that spell soon.

I dodged out of the way again and came back up with an ensnaring spell that launch two bolas at him. An incineration spell turned them to ash before they got halfway. Mortimer scowled and launched a barrage of fireballs at me. I threw up my shield spell again and prayed it would hold. But the barrage continued and wore down my shield and my already limited energy as I had been in another fight before coming here. Finally one last hit and my shield collapsed, leaving me trying to catch my breath after the exertion.

"I must admit, Griffin, you've come a long way. But if you're all the Council could send to stop me then we'll win in a matter of months once I've completed my assignment."

"That's the thing about you Warlocks," I gasped, "you're always overconfident. It's an inherent weakness that often leads you to underestimate us."

"Excuse me?" he sneered. "Who's the one panting after not even five minutes of battle? I think I've estimated your abilities perfectly."

"Then why have I beat you in the past?"

The slimy confident grin melted from Mortimer's face and was replaced with a scowl that could curdle milk. "You always did get lucky, but this time you're alone, no one to pull your ass out of the fire. It's just you and me, and this time I'm going to kill you!"

Mortimer pointed his staff at me but I had anticipated this and beat him to the punch, raising my staff and firing the most intense energy ball I could conjure at him. I hit him and Mortimer stumbled back, dazed, but I was still recuperating from the strain of keeping my shield up against the attack.

"Drop your staff and surrender or I'll fire again."

"You're bluffing, Griffin. You don't have the energy for another attack. I can tell."

"You're right, I don't have the energy yet for another attack like that," I admitted. "But who said anything about the attack being magic?"

"Wha-?"

Before Mortimer could blink I had unlatched a bullwhip from my belt and cracked it at his staff. The cord wrapped around the long piece of wood and I tugged. But Mortimer had a strong grip and was pulled part way along with his staff. He stumbled, fell and lost his grip but he was still far from powerless. All I had managed to do was decrease the strength of his spells. He glared up at me but found that I had approached him and dealt him an upper blow that put him on his back. He retaliated by firing a force spell from his hands that threw me back against a wall.

"You just earned yourself a slow agonizing death, Griffin," he growled as he got back to his feet. But I was nowhere in sight. "Griffin? GRIFFIN! Show yourself!"

I had managed to scamper for some cover in a nearby stable but I couldn't stay there. I needed a pick-me-up and dug into my satchel, looking for a potion. Finally I found it and took a swig. The effect was almost immediate and I felt a surge of energy rushing through my body. Time to put on a show.

"WHERE ARE YOU?"

"No need to shout, Mortimer, I'm right here," I quipped as I came out of hiding.

Mortimer launched another massive fireball at me and I didn't even flinch as it collided with my shield.

"Wha-? How did you do that? You shouldn't have the energy to yet!"

"A little rejuvenation potion goes a long way."

"Doesn't matter, you're still dea-!"

Mortimer didn't have the time to respond, let along finish his sentence, as I threw another kinetic attack at him. The potion had given me back my energy and then some and I was going to push this advantage. I wasn't backed up against the ropes anymore. I launched another kinetic attack followed by a fireball and then a paralysis spell. Mortimer was able to deflect these attacks if only just. He was slowly backing up now and looked just a little afraid. In a desperate act Mortimer used his powers to manipulate the water of a nearby fountain. Several jets of water rose from the fountain before turning into the shape of razor sharp knives and flying right at my chest. I noticed the attack out of the corner of my but was too slow to duck as one grazed my arm, cutting through the material of my frock coat and shirt and leaving a gash.

In my moment of weakness Mortimer dropped his shield and launched a concentrated energy bolt at me from his recovered staff. I raised mine and fired my own. The two streams collided in midair and it was a battle of strength as we fought to force the stream back towards our enemy. At first Mortimer was winning, his stream overpowering mine and making me a little afraid. But that got the adrenaline going more than it was already and magic could be fueled by emotions. I channeled it all into my magic and gradually started pushing the stream in Mortimer's direction. My stream pushed back against his all the way to his staff. He was barely holding off my attack and tiring fast. Cracks started to appear in his staff, a bad thing for a wizard but he ignored them and pressed harder. That was mistake. As he pushed back with all that he had left his staff couldn't take the strain anymore and exploded, sending him flying back into one of the fountains.

I leaned against my staff, still feeling the adrenaline rush and effects of the potion I had taken and walked over to where Mortimer lay. "You're coming with me."

"My master will kill me when he finds I have failed," rasped Mortimer.

"We can offer you protection."

"Protection? You can barely protect your own against us. Either way I am a dead man; if I am to die, let there be fire."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, Griffin, surely you didn't expect me to let you take me alive?"

"You didn't-?"

"I did. There's no stopping it now."

"You fool, you'll destroy this whole town!"

"I know. Better pull out your watch and get back to the future, eh?"

You know how when you put a pot of water on the stove and after a while the lid starts to rattle because of the steam trying to escape? Mortimer had done the magical equivalent of that except that there was no way for the 'steam' to escape. There was going to be an explosion and an exploding wizard is something you'll talk about when you're on a cloud with wings and a harp if you were within a four mile radius of the blast zone.

My hand immediately went into my pocket and pulled out a piece of chalk. I started drawing a circle in the ground around Mortimer and drawing runes along the inside perimeter. I didn't know if this was going to work, the explosion might be too powerful to contain but I had to give it a try. At best, I'd mitigate the damage and at worst I'd fail doing the right thing. With the circle complete I gathered my energy again and channeled it into the circle, creating an enhanced containment field around the dying warlock.

"Even at the end you're still trying to save people. You and your idealism, it's sickening," Mortimer muttered as I concentrated and reinforcing the field. "It's the powerful that will rule the earth one day. Your idealism is your weakness."

"Actually, it's a strength. You warlocks are nothing more than a bunch of cowards. Look at you, you choose suicide rather than face the wrath of your master. You stab each other in the back and lie and cheat and don't trust each other. Wizards, however, are willing to risk their lives for something bigger than themselves. Who do you think will be the victor in the end?"

"The warlocks," he answered as he started to glow. "No matter your sacrifices, it will all be in vain. The weapon is nearly ready. You've already lost."

"YOU! Stop what you're doing and surrender in the name of the queen!"

"Oh great, the local guard," I groaned as soldiers surrounded us. "Listen to me, you need to clear the town immediately!"

"I don't take orders from you, now surrender!"

"Damn it man, this is an emergency! Look at him! He's used a spell to build up his energy inside him and soon he's going to explode! Everything in a four mile radius will be ash!"

"Enough, if you do not cease your actions immediately I will deal with you myself!"

The soldier drew his sword and approached me. I diverted a bit of energy from the field to another spell and sent an arc of electricity towards the sword, shocking the holder into dropping it.

Before anything else could be done Mortimer's spell reached its limit and his energy exploded, colliding with the containment field and pushed it to the max immediately. I redoubled my efforts into maintaining the field's integrity but it was losing battle. The energy inside had left one pressure vessel and had emptied into another. It was bouncing around inside trying to escape and pushing me harder than I'd ever been pushed before. Cracks started to form in the field as my energy started to fail me. It looked like I would fail until I had a moment of inspiration. It might be possible to direct the energy, like the shot from a shotgun. Armed with a plan that at least a fifty percent chance of success I took my last reserves of energy and concentrated on cutting a hole in the top of the dome. A line started appearing in the top and as it went around light began to escape through the crack. Finally the circle was complete and the destructive energy escaped with a sound akin to a rifle shot. The energy was directed upwards into the sky as I had hoped. But then the shockwave hit which shook every building in the town and threw me against a wall.

Completely drained now, the last thing I saw before slipping into unconsciousness was the soldiers getting up and one of them approaching me. My eyes fluttered for a moment before closing, letting the darkness take over.


	3. 20 Questions

When I woke up the first thing I was aware of was a slight headache. The second was that I appeared to be in a cell of some kind. I sat up in the small cot and walked to the window but was stopped before I could reach it. I looked at my hands and noticed they had been put in manacles. Primitive and not really too effective against a wizard but I would remain like this to put whoever was holding me in a state of ease if they thought they had control of the situation. I sat back down on the cot and started looking around the small cell, calculating the best way to escape if events didn't pan out favorably for me. I'd like to keep my head where it was.

I had started meditating, heightening my awareness of my surroundings to an impressive degree, when I became aware of two presences outside the door. One was woman, a queen, shy and a bit of a recluse but confident and also lonely. The other was man, a soldier, devoted to his queen. It was then that I smiled and broke the silence.

"It's not polite to stare you know," I remarked before opening my eyes and looking at the door. "It is safe to come in, I promise I won't bite."

There was a rattling of metal on the other side followed by a click as the door was unlocked and swung open. My senses were right again. There was a woman, one stunningly beautiful, wearing a fine blue dress that seemed to shimmer in the light and man in a soldier's uniform carrying my satchel. I stood up out of respect for the royalty in the cell and approached her with my hand extended only to be stopped by the soldier who pressed his sword against my chest.

"I admire your loyalty and commitment to your queen but if I had wanted her dead she'd have been so the moment she set foot in this cell," I stated with a roll of my eyes.

The soldier looked at his queen who motioned him to put his sword away. He did so reluctantly but kept his hand on the hilt and fixed me with a glare.

"Well, now that the bodyguard's not going to try and run me through perhaps we can do this in a civilized manner."

"How did you know I was the queen?"

"Well, it's not that hard to figure out. Most guards would wait by the cell door in case I tried to escape but not him, he stayed right by your side and put himself between us when I approached you. You're someone special. Also, your dress is made from some exceedingly fine material that a common person would not be able to afford, only aristocrats and royalty would be able to afford something as fine as that. Finally, the biggest give away, your tiara. It's very well-polished twenty-four carat gold and the stones embedded in it are of amazing quality. Only royalty would be able to afford all of this, therefore you're the queen. Any other questions?"

The queen blinked before answering. "That… was amazing. How did you do that?"

"Like I said, it wasn't that hard to figure out. The clues are all there, you just have to pay attention and observe."

"Who are you?" the queen asked.

"And now the real reason you're here comes out. Well your majesty, I am many things. I'm an inventor, scientist, historian, and artist just to name a few."

"Is that all you are?"

"Do you want the complete list? Because that might take a minute or two, maybe longer."

"The sergeant here tells me you were engaged in a fight the likes of which he has never seen before with another man who he says exploded. Care to explain?"

"No, not really."

"Answer the queen or you will find yourself on the gallows come tomorrow's dawn," threatened the soldier.

"I'll check but I'm pretty sure my schedule for tomorrow is full."

"You insolent-!"

"That's enough, sergeant."

"Yes, your highness."

"Now answer the question. Who are you?" she asked again.

"Well, that certainly does seem to be the question of the hour. Like I said, I am many things. But one of those things in particular might get me a short drop and a sudden stop much sooner if you found out and I'm really averse to my neck getting put in a noose while I'm standing on a trap door."

"Arendelle is a little more accepting of strange things than most other kingdoms," the queen assured.

"That's what they all say…" I muttered.

"Then what about your belongings? No one can open the satchel or this fob watch that was found on you," she stated as she showed me said watch. I was immediately a bit worried because it looked like the watch had been damaged. "Do you have an explanation you'd care to share?"

"Again, not really because of the possibility of an early date with the hangman."

The queen looked somewhat peeved that I was being this stubborn and I couldn't really blame her. She seemed like a good queen who was only trying to determine if this strange man before her was a threat to her people and I didn't get a bad vibe off of her. Then I noticed a drop in the temperature of the cell and saw frost slowly starting to cover the walls.

"What the heck is causing that?" I asked and pointed at the wall across from me as the frost continued to cover it.

The queen suddenly looked embarrassed before stuttering out an apology. "I'm sorry, t-that's me."

"You? You did that?"

She nodded her head mutely.

"But how? Unless…" I trailed off as realization hit me full on. "Unless you're the Elemental!"

"I'm the what?"

"You're an Elemental,  _the_ Elemental, the one I was sent here to protect!"

"You were sent here to protect me? From who?"

"Well given that you're still alive I'm now more inclined to believe you now. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Daniel Griffin, wizard, at your service," I said with a slight bow.

"You're a real wizard?"

"I am, that's why you can't open my satchel. There's a security charm on it to ensure only I can open it, there's some rather important things in there."

"Why were you sent to protect me?"

"Because there's a war going on between the wizards and the warlocks. The warlock's leader, Lazarus, is constructing a weapon that could win him the war within a month if he completes it. But for the weapon to work he needs Elementals so he can harness their powers for the weapon. He's got water and wind Elementals already and we're protecting the other Elementals he might try and kidnap. Consider yourself lucky that we even found out that Lazarus had sent Mortimer here to collect you or you most certainly would be on your way to meet the most feared warlock in recent memory right now."

"I can take care of myself if I need to," the queen asserted.

"I don't doubt that but you only have control of one element, Mortimer had a slew of other abilities to throw at you. You wouldn't have held out for very long. My mission was to find you and protect you from him or find and capture him before he could do any damage, preferably without any witnesses. My kind don't exactly want non-magic people knowing we exist."

"Was Mortimer the man the sergeant said exploded in the square?"

"He was."

"You have an unusual definition of 'no witnesses.'"

"Yeah, kind of my fault there, I got sloppy and he saw me."

"Well the warlock you were supposed to find is dead, will you go back home now?"

"That might potentially be a bit difficult."

"Why?"

"It's… complicated," I said as I rubbed the back of my head nervously.

"How complicated can it be?"

"More than you think but if I can see my watch I'll be able to ascertain if I can return home or not."

The queen looked at me curiously before picking up my watch and handing it to me. I looked it over and from the outside it didn't look too terribly damaged, just a bit dented. But it was a different story when I opened it. I hit the release button on top and the cover fell open only to release a hissing sound, and a cloud of smoke.

"Oh no, that's definitely not good."

"Why, what's wrong with it?"

"It's broken. I can't use it."

"But you're a wizard, surely there's another way you can get home."

"No, this was my only way back. I'm stranded now, stranded in time."

"Excuse me?"

"Remember when I said it was complicated about where I was from? Well this is why. It's not that I'm from a place as much as it's that I'm from a time. You see… I'm from the year 2018."

"Are you saying you're from the future?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, I am a time traveler!"

"And you're a real wizard?"

"Yes! I can prove it to, watch," I said and concentrated on the locks to my manacles. They glowed for a second before the locks clicked and they fell to the ground with a clatter.

"You see?" I asked as I rubbed my wrists. "I could have gotten out of those anytime I wanted but chose to leave them on since it would most likely make you more at ease around me if you thought you had more control of the situation."

"Alright, I believe you. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well it seems to me that you are not a threat to me or to Arendelle so I see fit to treat you as a guest at this palace, not a prisoner."

"Thank you, your majesty. First and foremost a change of scenery would be welcome, it's a bit drafty in here."

"I know," said the queen.

"May I have my satchel back?"

"You may. Sergeant?"

The soldier handed me back my satchel but glared at me as he did so.

I followed the queen out of the dungeon and stopped for a minute to collect my staff before walking across the courtyard to the palace. I was lead inside and was greeted with the type of luxury that I expected to come with a royal family. There were large portraits lining the walls, no doubt of the previous rulers of the land, extravagantly built hallways, gold encrusted arches, and the entrance hall was massive, reminding me of old catholic cathedrals. We finally stopped outside a door.

"This will be your room for the duration of your stay, however long it may be. Dinner is at six o'clock and the dining hall is down the hallway, take a right, first door on the left. Also, I feel I should warn you about my sister. She's rather energetic, interested in people, and likely to be asking you questions for the entire meal."

"Thanks, consider me warned."

"I'll leave you to settle in now."

"Before you go, I don't believe I got your name."

"It's Elsa."

"Elsa… that's a beautiful name. A beautiful name for a beautiful queen."

Elsa blushed lightly and left the room, leaving me to unpack.


	4. Dinner With the Family

After Elsa had left my new room I sat down in the chair by the desk and ran my hands through my hair, making it messier than it already was. The watch that would have enabled me to return to my own time was broken and I had no idea if I could fix it. If I attempted to and failed to align the energies exactly right then the worst case scenario was an explosion that would decimate everything within a mile and a half and possibly rip a hole in the fabric of time. I let out a breath I had been holding and opened my satchel.

Inside were more of my tools of the trade. There was a journal, a fountain pen, a guide to magical creatures, two magic books, several sets of clothes, a portable potions kit, a violin case, some classic literature, and most importantly, a blue crystal roughly the length of my palm with a small stand. I placed the stand on the desk and placed the crystal in it.

"Wake up Danica, I need you."

The crystal glowed and a mass of swirling particles flew out and assembled into a young woman with long wavy strawberry-blonde hair wearing a blue skirt, loose white blouse, and a denim vest.

"Hello, Daniel, what's up?" she asked as she stretched.

"This is what's up," I said in a monotone as I held up the fob watch.

"Oh, that's very not good," said Danica as she moved in for a better look at the damage.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Can it be fixed?"

"That's why I called you; I need your help fixing this if it can be repaired at all. You're a memory spirit after all so you should know more about time travel magic than I do."

"Well the trickiest part will be realigning the energies without reducing the population of wherever we are to zero. Where are we anyway?"

"Nineteenth century Arendelle. I got in a fight with Mortimer and that's how the watch got broken. The queen is the Elemental I'm supposed to protect and she's been gracious enough to give us this room for the duration of our stay."

I probably shouldn't have mentioned that Elsa was the Elemental because Danica was suddenly the most persistent reporter ever and started rattling off questions at high speed.

"Oh, she's a queen? How old is she? Is she pretty? Is she single? Answer the last one first! Do you know her name? What's she like? Do you like her?"

"Whoa, slow down, Danica!"

"Come on, spill, what are the answers?" she persisted as she got in my face.

"Danica, personal space, please?" I asked as I held up my hands.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized and backed up. "Now give me some answers!"

"Alright, her name is Elsa."

"That's a pretty name."

"I know, I told her."

"You hit on her? You like her don't you?"

"I just met her not even an hour ago!"

"Doesn't matter, is she pretty?"

"Well… yes."

Danica squealed before asking another question. "How old is she, you think?"

"I'd say she's around my age and I do not know if she's single."

"Is she single? Oh, you already answered that. Do you like her?"

"Why is it every time I meet a woman you get all excited and start planning the wedding?"

"You need to find someone, your place clearly has 'bachelor pad' written all over it."

"I keep it tidy!"

"Yes, but it could still do with a woman's touch. Plus I really do think that you need someone. You're so work obsessed and serious that sometimes I wonder if you know how to have fun."

"I know how to have fun!" I snapped, looking semi-affronted.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Then when was the last time you went out for a good time?"

"Uh…"

"Exactly. You need to get a girlfriend."

"Danica, listen. I know you mean well but Elsa and I are from different times. When the watch is fixed I need to go back and help in the war and Elsa has to stay here. After I return you know the Confederation won't let me come back. There are reasons they put restraints on time travel magic."

"But there's also the possibility that we can't fix the watch. What then?"

"Then it looks like I'll be becoming a permanent resident of Arendelle."

"And then maybe you'll marry Elsa!"

"Danica! Can we please return to the reason I called you in the first place?"

"Oh alright, you don't have to be all grumpy about it. But you really should consider marrying her if we can't go back to the future."

"Why didn't I pack any aspirin?" I groaned as I slumped over on the desk.

* * *

Elsa closed the door behind her and walked down the hall a bit before stopping and leaning against the wall. Why was her heart beating as though she had just run a mile? And why did she get butterflies in her stomach when I had complimented her? Was she falling for me? No, she thought, that's impossible. I just met him; I don't even know him yet! So why did I make her feel as though her insides had been reduced to mush? The queen took a minute to get a grip on her emotions and compose herself before going to face the inquisition, namely Anna. Bracing herself, Elsa stepped into the library where she knew her sister would be, reading by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate.

Sure enough, as soon as the redhead caught sight of the older blonde the book was forgotten and questions started pouring out as soon as she had sat down.

"How was it?"

"It was fine, he doesn't seem to be a threat to either of us or to Arendelle."

"Did you find out how he was able to do all that stuff we saw in the square?"

"I did."

"And?" Anna prodded.

"It turns out that… he's a wizard."

"Seriously? A real wizard?"

"He is, I saw him unlock the manacles that had been placed on him without the key."

"Wow! What's his name?"

"He said it was Daniel Griffin."

"He is rather handsome isn't he?"

"Yes, he is."

"So?"

"So what?"

"So, do you like him?"

"I thinks so, he seems like a gentleman from the time I was with him, but also a bit… eccentric."

"Do you think he's the one?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean do you think he's the one you'll marry?"

"Anna, I just met him! I can't decide that almost immediately!"

"So?"

"So what? I'm not you Anna, it's not as easy for me to let people in and you know why."

"Yes, I know why. You're scared you'll hurt someone with your abilities, that's why you ultimately turned away all those suitors that came here."

"Exactly, I don't want to hurt anyone else, hurting you was bad enough."

"We were kids when that happened, I don't blame you for it."

"And then I hit your heart! You could have died, you nearly did! I almost lost you! And I still can't fully control my powers. After nearly losing you I don't want to hurt anyone else."

"But you're making progress, and maybe Daniel can help you. He's a wizard so he knows about magic and how to control it. Maybe he can teach you something and you won't have to be so scared about hurting someone again."

Elsa thought about what her younger sister had said and realized that she very quickly decided that she wouldn't mind spending a bit more time every day with me. The more she thought about it, the better it sounded and she made up her mind.

"You're right, Anna. If I can fully control my ability then I think I would be open about actually loving someone."

"And Daniel's just the person to help you. Who knows, maybe while he's helping you'll find that he is the one for you."

"I don't know, Anna, it might be a bit complicated."

"It's only complicated if you let it be."

* * *

The hours rolled by as Danica and I worked to try and repair the watch. I had been reading the limited information in my magic books and listening to Danica's advice as though it were something holy. Finally after hours of reading and squinting at the smaller pieces of the now dismantled watch I groaned and rubbed my sore eyes.

"Alright, I don't think I can do anymore, I need to rest my eyes."

"But we don't know if we've found all the faults yet," Danica said.

"We can continue in the morning, it'll all be here."

I glanced at the grandfather clock and noticed it was five to six, almost dinner time.

"Listen, thanks for the help Danica, I really appreciate it."

"I certainly hope you do. After all, what would you do without me?"

"With luck we'll never have to find out."

"I think I'd be replaced by Elsa."

"You're still going on about that?"

"Why not? I've got to get my entertainment somehow," she smirked.

"Danica, you're too much," I laughed and left the room.

* * *

When I found the dining hall a few short minutes later Elsa, a redhead I assumed was Anna, and a blonde man were already there.

"Mr. Griffin, thank you for joining us," Elsa Greeted with a smile.

"Please, call me Daniel. I hear 'Mr. Griffin' and I look around for my dad," I insisted as I took a seat across the long table from the blonde man. "Also, it makes me feel old."

The remark earned a few chuckles from the others.

"How old are you?" asked Anna.

"Anna!" chided Elsa.

"What? I'm just curious. It's not every day we have dinner with an actual wizard."

"It's alright, your highness," I assured with an easy smile. "I'm twenty-six. And before I forget, don't go telling anyone else I'm a wizard, please. Even now we don't like for the non-magic population of earth to know we still exist."

"Why don't you like others to know you exist?" asked the blonde man.

"What's your name?"

"Kristoff."

"Well, Kristoff, we don't like you lot knowing we exist because you persecuted us in the past. You were so scared of us that you even started turning on each other, the most famous, or infamous example depending on how you look at it, is the Salem Witch Hunt. Puritan settlers in Salem, Massachusetts, started fearing that witches were among them and brought in a priest to root them out. Because people were scared that they might be charged as being a witch, even if they weren't, they just confessed and accused others to save their own necks. Eventually the accusations got so out of hand that half the town was declared guilty and hanged. And what most wizards find amusing about the situation was that there weren't any of us in Salem at the time of the hunt.

But back in the times of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table a wizard could travel freely and openly and only really have to worry about dark wizards attacking them. But later the non-magic people got into their heads somehow that being a witch or wizard meant that you were consorting with the devil and we started being persecuted. We've been in hiding ever since."

"That's terrible," said Anna.

"The past is the past, nothing we can do about it."

I could tell Anna was going to ask another question but we were interrupted by the servers bringing us the entrée which was mutton stew. I took a cautious sip of it and found that it was rather good. We all ate in silence and the staff came to take away our plates after we were done. While waiting for the main course Anna asked her question.

"Daniel, if it's not too much to ask, could you show us a bit of your magic?"

"I think I can do that," I grinned as I thought of what I should do. Inspiration hit and I lit up a blue fireball in my palm. "This fire I just made is actually lukewarm, you can touch it and you won't get burned."

To demonstrate I passed my other hand through the flame. Then with a little more effort I made the fireball float in the air and move towards Anna who was staring transfixed. As the fire neared her I made it dissolve into energy which I then molded into the shape of a butterfly. Anna reached out as though to touch the apparition and I made it gently land on her fingers before it dissolved.

"That was impressive," breathed Elsa who had been just as captivated as her sister.

"That's actually one of my simpler tricks," I admitted as the servers came back with smoked salmon and vegetables. This time as we ate the course was peppered with conversation and a few more questions for me.

"That was the best smoked salmon I've ever had," I declared after we had finished.

"Our cook does a wonderful job," smiled Elsa.

"What's for desert?" Anna asked eagerly.

"Your favorite," Elsa answered.

Anna gave a squeal of delight that could have rivaled Danica.

"What's your favorite?" I asked after the ringing in my ears had stopped.

"Chocolate cake!"

Sure enough, we were served a rich and moist looking chocolate cake a few minutes later that Anna devoured as though she had not eaten in a week.

"Slow down, you'll get a stomach ache if you swallow it without chewing like that," I advised.

"It won't work, we've all told her that and she still won't listen," Kristoff said between bites of his piece of cake.

"Is there anything you can tell us about yourself, Daniel?" Elsa asked.

"What's there to tell? I found out I was a wizard at twelve, I've been learning and getting into trouble ever since."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Well, there was this one time I got on the wrong side of this river troll…"

After indulging the people with some tales of my exploits as a wizard I declared I was tired and going to turn in early.

"Daniel, can I talk to you for a minute before you retire for the evening," the Snow Queen asked.

"Of course," I smiled and she accompanied me out of the dining hall. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, you see I'm kind of struggling to control my powers. If they get out of control and I hit someone in the heart, then they'll turn to ice unless they thaw their heart with an act of true love. I hit my sister in the head when we were kids and she had to have all her memories of my abilities erased. Later I accidentally hit her heart and nearly lost her. I don't want something like that happening again. Can you help me learn to control them more fully?"

"Well it looks like I'll be here for an indefinite amount of time and I'm not about to stay cooped in that room all day seven days a week."

"Does that mean yes?" she asked with a hopeful glimmer in her eyes as we stopped outside my door.

"You know it does. We can start tomorrow after lunch, how does that sound?"

"That sounds wonderful, thank you!" Elsa exclaimed before kissing me on the cheek. As soon as she realized what she had done she turned as red as a tomato. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know w-what got into me. I'd better go now."

Elsa backed up looking a little unsure before turning around and almost running away. I stood there for a minute longer, still feeling her lips where she had kissed me before going inside me room.

"How was dinner?" asked Danica as she drew some runes in glowing energy in the air.

"One of the best dinners I've had in my life."

"What was going on outside? I heard someone else with you out there."

"That was Elsa. She asked me for to help her learn to control her ability better and I agreed to give her some support tomorrow.

"Really? Now you'll be able to spend some quality alone time with her, work some of that Griffin charm you sly dog."

"Please don't get any ideas," I pleaded as I started getting ready for bed.

"Too late."

I groaned as I pulled on a night shirt and sweat pants and crawled under the covers. Just after I used my magic to turn off the lights in the room Danica spoke up again.

"When are you planning to propose?"

"Goodnight, Danica."

I heard her giggling as she dissolved into particles that swirled back into the crystal and let the sweetness of slumber sweep over me.


	5. Just a Nightmare...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three years after it happened, a memory returns to haunt Daniel.

_I was dreaming. In my dream I was back in the twenty-first century, back in my own bed in my small house. I got up and looked outside and saw that it was a beautiful spring day. I smiled, got dressed, and headed outside with my staff in hand. I walked down the street to my favorite coffee shop and when I went inside I found a close friend of mine sitting at one of the tables, latte in one hand and a phone in the other. I smiled softly and walked over to greet her._

_"_ _Long time no see, Alana."_

_The youthful looking brunette smiled up at me. "Same to you stranger, what have you been up to?"_

_"_ _Lately, trying to get the Confederation to see that there could possibly be an uprising of warlocks on the horizon," I answered as I sat down in the chair across from her._

_"_ _And how's that going?"_

_"_ _How do you think? That lot of senile old fossils won't listen to reason, even though I'm their best investigator!"_

_"_ _Are we in any danger?"_

_"_ _Yes. No. Maybe… I don't know. All I know is that there has been a steady increase of dark magic related deaths among the magic and non-magic communities lately. If the warlocks are assembling an army then they could attack us publicly any day now."_

_"_ _Is there anyone in the Confederation who believes you?"_

_"_ _Only a few, and they're led by my old mentor, Jacob Cobb. But the majority has chosen to remain ignorant of the growing threat."_

_"_ _Easy, I can sense the spike in your emotions."_

_I let out a breath and rubbed my eyes. "I'm sorry, Alana, I'm just worried about everything. Especially you."_

_"_ _That's sweet to say."_

_"_ _Well I mean it. If war does break out, be it tomorrow, next week, next year, I don't want to lose you."_

_"_ _Hey, I'm not going anywhere," she insisted as she placed her hand on mine. "I'm right here with you, always."_

_"_ _You promise?"_

_"_ _I promise."_

* * *

_The scene shifted and I was at the Battle of San Francisco, the first battle in the war. The city was being torn apart by a hand full of large monsters that looked like they had come from hell itself. They were large, scaly… things that were anywhere from two to five stories tall. The non-magic people did not see this. Instead they saw it as a bizarre sort of storm that was tearing the city apart. Wizards were there battling the creatures and warlocks. We were all invisible to the non-magic people as we fought to save San Francisco from ruin. I was leading a small group of wizards against a larger monster that was heading for the pyramid building._

_"_ _Alright, here's what we're going to do. Thorsen, you, Barnes, Welles, and Hudson get ready with the strongest ensnaring charm you can muster. Damien, Coburn and I will distract it, try to keep its attention off you while you work. Now when that thing falls we're only going to have a minute at the most before it gets free. We need to kill it but it's hard to do so. We're going to have to combine our energies to accomplish that. Do you all understand?"_

_They all nodded and we headed out to do our tasks._

_"_ _Think this'll work?" Alana asked as we charged up our staffs._

_"_ _It's the best plan we've got, let's make it work," I said with as much confidence as I could muster._

_We fired our spells which didn't penetrate the hide of the creature but they did get its attention._

_"_ _OK, we got its attention, what's step two?" asked Damien._

_"_ _Step two is keep its attention and don't get stepped on."_

_"_ _LOOK OUT!" Alana warned._

_We all just barely got out of the way of a semitrailer the beast had picked up and thrown at us._

_"_ _Keep firing, we've got to keep it from finding out what the others are doing or this plan ends up with seven dead wizards instead of one dead demon!" I ordered as I got back up._

_I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a canister of salt. This would keep Ugly distracted. I poured a handful and tossed the container to Alana._

_"_ _Alana, use the salt!"_

_She caught the can and nodded her thanks before pouring some for herself and throwing the rest to Damien._

_The lumbering beast started towards me and took a swipe but I ducked out of the way and threw my salt at its hand. It howled in pain and it looked like it had been burned where the salt had hit it. Alana and Damien threw their salt too, Damien using magic to make his throw hit the eyes. The monster reeled back in pain as it rubbed at its eyes._

_"_ _OK, this is it, hit it with that ensnaring spell!" I yelled._

_Immediately ropes of light wrapped around the legs and pulled taught. The creature struggled against the bindings but they help tight and with one last attempt the thing's balance was lost and it tumbled over with a deafening crash._

_"_ _Time to send this thing back to hell, fire your most powerful stream and then combine them! Fire… now!"_

_The seven of us fired our streams and they collided with the beast's head, making it growl at us. We then combined out streams and that caused it to really howl in pain. Finally the thing glowed a sickly green color and turned to dust._

_"_ _Yes! Victory!" exclaimed Thorsen as the group started hugging each other._

_"_ _Where are the rest of these whelps?" asked Hudson as he and the others ran off to find more to fight, still high on the adrenaline._

_Alana jumped into my arms and planted a kiss firmly on my lips. It was the first kiss we'd shared since we began our tentative relationship._

_"_ _There's more where that came from but you only get it if you survive," she said with an impish grin._

_"_ _Thanks for the motivation, now let's go get some more."_

_I turned to rejoin the fighting but Alana saw something I didn't. A warlock had seen us defeat ugly and he was not happy. He was aiming his staff at me._

_"_ _Daniel, look out!" Alana had yelled as she pushed me out of the way._

_The warlock had already fired and his curse hit Alana in the chest before she could raise a shield. She collapsed to the ground, blood pouring profusely from an open wound._

_For a second I couldn't believe what I had just seen. There was a shock, but as I looked at the warlock responsible for the death of my girlfriend the shock quickly turned to anger._

_"_ _You bastard!" I yelled and fired off a cutting hex._

_The warlock raised a shield but was blown back from the ferocity of the attack some. I kept up the assault, never giving him a second. It was tiring me out but I didn't care. I Fired spell after spell until I had him backed up against a wall. I yanked his staff away and threw it down an alley. I pressed my staff right up against his chest and that's when I got my first good look at his face._

_The assailant was just a boy, probably still in his late teens. His eyes didn't hold the malice I was used to seeing in a warlocks eyes. Instead they were full of fear. He was trembling like a leaf. I felt some of the anger leave me but shook myself out of it. He had killed the woman I loved, surely he deserved to die._

_'_ _No, he doesn't,' said a voice in my head._

_'_ _Of course he does, he killed Alana, he killed her in cold blood!' I argued back._

_'_ _Is this what she would have wanted?'_

_It was then that I realized what I had very nearly done. Alana would not have wanted this at all._

_"_ _Get out of here," I said as I put my staff down._

_The young warlock looked at me for a minute as though he couldn't believe what he had just heard._

_"_ _I said GET OUT OF HERE!"_

_The teen suddenly remembered how to use his legs and ran._

_With the anger seeping out of my veins it was quickly replaced with worry for Alana. I ran back to where she had fallen and saw Damien pressing a cloth to her wounds._

_"_ _Alana, are you alright?" I asked as I dropped to my knees beside her._

_"_ _I've been better," she rasped._

_"_ _Shh, don't try to talk," Damien said._

_"_ _I'm dying, nothing can stop that."_

_"_ _Don't say that," I pleaded, my eyes starting to get watery. "Keep your eyes open, do that for me."_

_"_ _It's too late, I can feel myself slipping away."_

_"_ _T-That's crazy talk, Alana. You're going to be alright, you hear me?"_

_"_ _Daniel?"_

_"_ _Listen to Damien, don't talk. Just keep s-still."_

_"_ _Daniel," she said a bit more firmly._

_"_ _W-what?"_

_"_ _Daniel, I know I'm dying and nothing's going to stop that, but promise me one thing. Will you do that?"_

_"You're not going to die!"_

_"Will you promise me something?"_

_"_ _You know I'd do anything for you," I finally agreed._

_"_ _Then when I'm gone and they've put me in the ground, if you want to remember me, then there is one thing you can do. That's it, just one thing."_

_"_ _What is it?" I asked as a tear fell down my cheek._

_Alana reached up a shaky hand to wipe it away and I grabbed it. "When I'm gone, promise me that you'll keep living. Go out there and live your life for both of us. Do you promise?"_

_"_ _I d-do."_

_She smiled up weakly at me as she laid her head back and started coughing. I squeezed her hand tighter and she took one more shuddering breath before the light faded from her eyes and she went still in my arms. Alana Coburn was dead._

* * *

"Alana!" I gasped.

I had shot up straight in my bed, heaving in breaths and covered in a cold sweat. After getting my breathing back to normal I lit the lights in the room via magic and glanced at the grandfather clock. It was a quarter past six in the morning. I sighed and fell back in the bed, knowing sleep would be lost on me now. It had been a year since I'd had that dream, why'd it have to come back now?

After a minute of lying there and getting my emotions under control I got out of the bed and started getting dressed. I threw on a fresh pair of black slacks and a crisp white button-up shirt. After looking myself over in the mirror and deciding I needed a shave, I reached into a side pocket of my satchel and took out a straight razor and shaving cream.

While I shaved I tried my best to think of anything but the nightmare I had just had. Losing Alana was one of the hardest things that had ever happened in my life. Sure I'd lost other friends and colleagues in the war that hurt, but her death had hit me the hardest. I was borderline suicide for a while after her death but it was the promise she made me make that ultimately kept me going. We were both Christians and I didn't want to get to heaven only to have Alana mad at me for eternity for breaking my promise.

While I tried not to dwell on those old memories for long, my mind wandered to the queen that was letting me stay in the palace. I couldn't deny that Elsa was indeed a very beautiful woman. Her platinum blonde hair seemed to shine in the proper light, almost like she was an angel. The blue dress she wore was also semi-distracting, not just in appearance, but also because it defined her body very well. I caught myself and stopped that train of thought before it could go any further and quickly finished shaving.

It was going to be a long day.

After finishing my other morning tasks and throwing on a back waistcoat, a red paisley tie, and my frock coat I left the room and wandered around the still dark castle. I ignited the blue fire again to illuminate my path and decided to do a bit of exploring. As I walked down the halls I came across a white door with blue snowflakes painted on it. That must have been Elsa's old room when she was a child. Not knowing if I could go in there I moved on deeper into the castle finding other rooms, most of them either empty or with furniture that was covered with tarps to keep the dust off.

I left one room that had a piano in it and was about to go back the way I had come when I heard something. Someone was singing. I followed the voice and as I got closer I realized that it was Elsa's voice I was hearing. She sounded beautiful. Her voice lured me like a siren's song and I was soon outside the door to her bedchamber listening to her melodic voice. As I listened it seemed like my world shrunk until the only thing was Elsa's angelic voice, singing her song.

But all too soon it was over and I was left standing there wanting more. Eventually my senses returned in full and I moved back down the hallway, not wanting Elsa to catch me and think I was some sort of pervert. Maybe they had a copy of  _Frankenstein_ in the library.


	6. Future History

It turned out I wasn't the only one to have a dream that night in the castle. Elsa had a dream of her own that turned into a nightmare.

_Her dream started out pleasant enough, with her taking lessons on controlling her powers with me. The scene shifted and I was standing in front of her, holding a repaired fob watch in my hand. I departed for my own time and when I left the queen felt something break inside her. Once again the scene shifted but this time her powers were completely out of control. She had cast Arendelle into another permanent winter and now the people were marching on the palace carrying torches and pitchforks and demanding her execution. Finally they broke past the gate and rushed in._

_Elsa waited in her room, too scared to think straight. The door handle jiggled and when it opened Elsa fired an ice blast without thinking. It was actually Anna who had opened the door, coming to get her sister out of the deathtrap the palace had become. The blast had hit Anna in the heart and she collapsed, shivering while her hair started to go white._

_"_ _You've doomed us all," she gasped just before she froze solid._

_Before Elsa could even move the townspeople burst in and grabbed her, forcing thick gloves on her hands. They dragged her out of the palace to the town square where they had erected a pole and piled kindling at the base. Elsa was tied roughly to the pole while another approached with a torch and touched it to the kindling. The fire caught instantly and she could feel the heat as it got closer and closer._

* * *

Elsa woke up drenched in sweat and gasping as she frantically cast her gaze around her bedchamber before realizing it was a dream. She leaned back on the headboard and let out a sigh of relief. She was alright, the townspeople weren't trying to burn her, and Anna wasn't frozen. Elsa repeated this mantra in her head until she felt calm enough to get out of bed. As she walked out onto the balcony the fading moonlight washed over her, making her seem to glow with an otherworldly light. She looked out over the still quiet town and simply took the time to relax and think.

As the sun just barely started to rise, tinting the edge of the sky the faintest of oranges, she finally went back inside to start getting ready for the day. After taking a bath to rid herself of the sweat that was still clinging to her and drying off she put on a robe and dried her hair. After taking out another blue dress and putting it on, the blonde started to put her hair back in its customary French braid but her trembling fingers impeded her progress. After two unsatisfactory attempts, Elsa groaned in frustration and frost started to cover the mirror. That's when she decided to do what she normally did when life was particularly overwhelming. She started to sing.

" _The snow glows white on the mountain tonight_  
Not a footprint to be seen.  
A kingdom of isolation,  
and it looks like I'm the Queen.  
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside  
Couldn't keep it in;  
Heaven knows I've tried

 _Don't let them in,_  
don't let them see  
Be the good girl you always have to be  
Conceal, don't feel,  
don't let them know  
Well now they know

_Let it go, let it go  
Can't hold it back anymore_

_Let it go, let it go_  
Turn away and slam the door  
I don't care  
what they're going to say  
Let the storm rage on.  
The cold never bothered me anyway

 _It's funny how some distance_  
Makes everything seem small  
And the fears that once controlled me  
Can't get to me at all

 _It's time to see what I can do_  
To test the limits and break through  
No right, no wrong, no rules for me,  
I'm free!

 _Let it go, let it go_  
I am one with the wind and sky  
Let it go, let it go  
You'll never see me cry  
Here I stand  
And here I'll stay  
Let the storm rage on

 _My power flurries through the air into the ground_  
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around  
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast  
I'm never going back, the past is in the past

 _Let it go, let it go_  
And I'll rise like the break of dawn  
Let it go, let it go  
That perfect girl is gone

 _Here I stand_  
In the light of day  
Let the storm rage on The cold never bothered me anyway!"

Singing was the one thing that always made her feel better when she was done. And after getting all that emotion out Elsa felt ready to face the day.

* * *

It was still early, too early for Anna to be up yet so Elsa decided to take advantage of the quiet while it lasted and go to the library to do some reading she wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. But when she got there she found a fire lit in the fireplace and one of the lamps on the table had been lit, casting light on the person occupying one of the chairs with a book.

"Daniel, I didn't expect you up this early."

"Oh, good morning your majesty. Yeah, I wasn't planning on being up this early either but…"

"But what?"

"It doesn't matter right now," I said and quirked a smile. "You look positively radiant this morning."

"Thank you," Elsa blushed. "You look rather handsome yourself."

"I can guarantee that's a compliment I'll remember forever."

"What are you reading?" she asked as she sat down in the chair next to mine.

"I am reading  _Frankenstein_ by Mary Shelley."

"Is that a book you still have in the future you're from?"

"It's a classic when I come from. Mary Shelley was the first to write in a genre known as science fiction in my time. And reading it then it's still as powerful as it is today. Not everybody finds it as scary as people do now but it still brings up some compelling questions that scientists will struggle with for a very long, well beyond my time in fact."

"What is it like when you're from?"

"It's… different. Very different from what you have now. There are so many inventions coming in the next decades that you won't believe how much of an impact most of it has on the future."

"Really? Can you give me some examples?"

"Alright, I suppose I can indulge your curiosity a little. Pretty soon, human civilization is going to become increasingly dependent on electricity. We're going to start using it for all sorts of things, like communication for instance. Alexander Grahm Belle will invent something called the telephone in 1876. The telephone will allow for people to communicate with people long distances away instantaneously. A phone is a handheld device with a piece that you hold up to your ear to hear what the other person is saying and a piece for you to speak into. Using this, you can send your voice to the other side of the world and talk to someone else who has a telephone. Then, in 1890 Thomas Alva Edison will invent the light bulb. Think of it like a candle that runs off electricity and lasts longer. He failed nearly two thousand times to invent it and when asked about it later, he said, 'I didn't fail. I found two thousand ways how not to make a light bulb.'

"Next, the horseless carriage will be invented in 1896. It's not that great at first. The first horseless carriage's top speed is nine miles per hour and with a one and a half liter fuel tank its range is limited to five miles. Nevertheless it'll prove that personal motorized transportation is possible and it paves the way for Henry Ford to make the first mass produced automobile for the masses, the Model T. By the time it goes out of production in 1927 half the world will have one.

"The next big invention is radio, the transmission of sounds through the air by electromagnetic waves. This technology will be pioneered by the brilliant Nikola Tesla, who's alternating current electric generator will beat Edison's direct current generator to light America and eventually the world. The radio will become the world's favorite form of entertainment with drama shows for kids and music and news for adults until the invention of television. Television works in a way similar to radio except with television you also get a moving picture to accompany the sound."

"A moving picture?"

"I know, it sounds absolutely impossible right?"

"If I didn't believe you were a wizard or that you're from the future I'd think you crazy."

"Well, I've been called that a few times before," I shrugged and earned a small grin of amusement from Elsa.

"Is there anything else?" she inquired, literally on the edge of her seat.

"Those are all the really big inventions that will shape the world I come from so I don't have anything else for now. Besides, I don't want to tell you too much. Who knows what will happen to the timeline then."

"What do you mean?"

"Time travel is a risky business. Every time someone travels through time they run the risk of altering history possibly for the worst. There's also the concern of the butterfly effect. That idea stems from the theory that a butterfly flaps its wings and it creates a bit of wind that gets stronger as it travels across the globe and by the time it reaches the other side of the world you have a storm. The effect as applied to time travel is that you create ripples in the timeline that get bigger the farther they move through time and when you get back to your own time you arrive at a future vastly different from the one you knew. But then, there's also a theory that the universe can take care of itself and as long as the ripples you create are not too large, they will be taken care of on their own and have no lasting impact on history."

"How do you know all this? You must be one of the smartest people alive."

"Smartest? I don't think so. There are plenty of people smarter than me. Those are the people that are making the technology of the future. For example, in a little over one hundred years, after years of research and hard work, the world will be watching their television sets to watch as the first man steps foot on the moon."

"What, you mean the moon that appears in the night sky?" Elsa asked incredulously.

"Yes, that big crater pocked white orb we see hanging in the sky at night. In 1969 there will be a man walking on its surface. And the men who made the technology to make the seemingly impossible feat possible were all way smarter than I am."

"Well you're still the smartest man I know."

"Thank you, it helps when you've studied history. Speaking of which, if I can't get back to my own time there's a good chance I'll be around for the moon landing."

"What do you mean, you said that happens in 1969."

"Yes, I did. But wizards age at a slower pace than non-magic people. I'll probably look a little over middle-aged by the time it happens."

"Is there anything a wizard can't do?"

"Make food out of thin air and create life," I answered immediately.

It was then that the clock chimed seven-thirty.

"It's breakfast time, I'd better go pry Anna out of bed or she'll be there all day."

"You're the early riser in the family then?"

"Yes, someone has to be to get the other out of bed before noon."

"I'll meet you in the dining hall then, alright?"

"That's fine. I'll be there shortly."

"If you need help just let me know. I have a spell that will get her out of that bed quicker than you can saw 'chocolate.'"

"Sounds tempting. If it comes to it I'll call for you."

"Alright, assuming you can get her out I'll meet you all in the dining hall."


	7. Letting Go

_Tick-tock... tick-tock... tick-tock._

Time dragged by as I labored over the time jumper with Danica. We found that the pathways that were used as channels for the magic that powered the temporal and spatial displacement field were still serviceable. Thank God for small favors. Now we just had to find a way to recharge the pathways and then check the crystals that focused and enhanced the energy. If those were still serviceable then I was more than halfway back to getting back home.

"The secondary crystal array looks good, it should still work," I said as I squinted at the piece through a magnifying glass.

"That's a relief," said Danica as she watched over my shoulder.

"Cross your fingers, if the main focusing crystal is busted then it's possible we're going to have to apply for citizenship. And don't say anything about me marrying Elsa."

I didn't need to look to know that Danica had her pouty face on right now. I focused on the task at hand and gently lifted up the cover plate on the main crystal and gingerly lifted it out with precision pliers. My hopes that had been high before vaporized like water on the surface of the sun.

"Drat! It's been deformed!" I exclaimed.

"Should I get started on the citizenship application?"

"Is there anything we can do to fix the watch without the main focusing crystal?"

"I'm afraid not," admitted Danica.

"Nothing? Are you sure we couldn't use something like runes?"

"Runes can't take the energy that time travelling requires, the watch would burn out permanently by the time we reached the 1960's."

"Great, disco," I muttered.

"And  _Doctor Who,_  and the moon landing."

"And the Kennedy assassination."

"Well if you're going to be negative about the whole thing…"

"What are the chances of finding a replacement crystal?"

"Very low. It'd have to be roughly the same size and have very few flaws. The more flaws there are the greater the chance of rupturing the space-time continuum."

"So it's improbable but not impossible?"

" _Very_ improbable."

"Well I'll take very improbable over impossible any day. I need to take some time, I'll be back later," I said as I grabbed my sketch book and left.

I wandered around the palace, looking for a good view to draw and eventually found one in an upstairs sitting room. I sat down in one of the chairs near the window that offered a splendid view of the mountains and the town and pulled out a set of pencils. Before I started drawing the scene before me I leafed through the book, looking back at a few years' worth of drawings. I experimented with all kinds of styles from Impressionism to near hyper-realism, a style I had yet to fully master. There was still life, abstract, and fan art from some of my favorite books and TV shows.  _Doctor Who_ was mixed with  _Harry Potter_ and then Monet style drawings suddenly switched to drawings I had done of friends and colleagues. Finally I turned to a blank page and put my pencil to paper.

Seemingly minutes later the door behind me creaked open and Elsa walked in.

"Daniel, we were wondering where you were. You missed lunch."

"I did?" I asked as I looked up from my work.

"Yes, we've been searching for you for ten minutes."

"Sorry, got caught up in my drawing."

"You're an artist?"

"Among other things," I smiled.

"May I take a look?"

"Of course you may," I said and handed her the book.

The blonde took it and started leafing through the pages as I had done earlier. She looked first at the newest pictures I had drawn, a scene of the town as I saw it outside the window, followed by pictures of Anna, Kristoff and herself. Next to each person I had sketched I had written up to three words that described them. Anna's were 'Free spirited,' 'energetic,' and 'addicted to chocolate.' Kristoff's were 'strong,' 'silent,' and 'hard worker.' Elsa turned to her picture and read the words I had used to describe her. 'Shy,' 'leader,' and 'beautiful.' Elsa felt her cheeks heat up after reading that and quickly turned to older sketches.

This time she had flipped to some  _Doctor Who_ fan art, specifically the drawings I had made of all eleven Doctors for the 50th anniversary. Each drawing had a quote that that particular Doctor had said in his tenure on the iconic show.

'One day I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then there must be no tears, no regrets, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.'

'There are corners of the universe that have bred the most terrible things, things that act against everything we believe in… they must be fought.'

'Courage isn't just a matter of not being afraid, you know. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway.'

'There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes.'

'If anyone asks if I made any material difference to the welfare of this planet, you can tell them I came and went like a summer cloud.'

'Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal.'

'Think about me when you're living your life one day after another, all in a neat pattern. Think about the homeless traveler in his old police box, his days like crazy paving.'

'I can't make your dream come true forever, but I can make it come true tonight.'

'Time travel is like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guidebook, you've got to throw yourself in! Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers… or is that just me?'

'People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but  _actually,_ from a non-linear, non-subjective point of view, it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly… timey wimey… stuff.'

'All of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will… where do you want to start?'

"What are these drawings?" she asked after she looked at all the Doctors.

"Those are the  _Doctor Who_ drawings I made for the show's fiftieth anniversary in 2013."

"What is  _Doctor Who_?"

"Remember when I told you about television earlier? Well  _Doctor Who_  is a show that ran on television for longer than any other show before or after. It began November 23, 1963 but due to eventual declining support from the company that made it, it was canceled in 1989. It finally did return in 2005 though, mainly because of a man called Russell T. Davies who grew up watching the show."

"Then who are all these people you drew?"

"They're the Doctor," I smiled, knowing what was coming.

"The Doctor? Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor as he keeps telling people. And within the world of the show, these are all the same man, just a different face."

"That's ridiculous, he's human!"

"Wrong, he's an alien from a distant planet who can renew his body when he's about to die but his physical appearance and personality change every time he does so. Normally I'd explain in greater detail but most of what I'd say you probably wouldn't understand. Besides, it's time to start your first lesson controlling your powers," I stated as I leaped up from the chair.

Elsa grinned at my enthusiasm and followed me, still turning a few pages in my sketch book before returning it. The last picture she saw was one of me with Alana. We were walking down a street arm in arm and smiling at each other. The Snow Queen stopped for a moment to think about this. Did I have a girlfriend already? The thought caused her to feel somewhat sad for some reason and she didn't know why. She knew that this was probably private but there was something in her that caused her to throw caution to the wind at that moment and ask.

"Daniel?"

"Yes Elsa?"

"Who's with you in this picture?"

I was shown the picture in question and my joviality dissipated. I stared at the picture I had not looked at in years and it stirred up old memories of the two of us. Finally I trusted myself enough to speak and answered.

"She's a friend. An… old friend of mine I haven't seen in a while," I said in a quiet voice.

"I'm sorry," she said, sensing that there was something more here than I was telling but decided not to pursue the subject as it visibly upset me.

"No time to waste on old memories now though, we need to find an open area for today, know any places like that?" I asked, snatching the book away and forcing myself to change from sad and brooding to flippant and jovial in a nanosecond.

"I think I know a place that will suit our needs," the queen replied, taken aback by my sudden mood swing.

"Excellent, just give me directions and I'll get us there the quickest way I know how!"

"Just head towards the North Mountain and I'll tell you when to stop," she answered, wondering what I had in mind to get us there.

"Alright, just hold onto my staff and we'll be off."

Elsa gripped my staff just below my hand and I concentrated on what I wanted. Before the queen knew what had happened we were both in a ball of light and energy that sparkled and twinkled and we were leaving the palace behind at an incredible pace.

"Is that the mountain you wanted to go to?"

"Yes, it is. We can land in there near the canyon."

"Alright, prepare for reconstitution."

The twinkling ball swirled around and Elsa suddenly found herself in a physical body again and turned in time to see my reconstitution. I smiled at her and straightened my frock coat.

"Terrific choice, Elsa, it really is. This place is perfect for what I had in mind today. The first thing I want to do is determine how strong your powers are, I want to know your limits. So to start out, just let yourself go and do what you want. Let your power run free."

A large grin lit up her face and she ran towards the gully. As she reached the edge she threw out her hands and what appeared to be part of a staircase but it was undefined. But as she stepped in it the frost disappeared and the staircase became solid. As she ran the frosted over steps stayed ahead of her and became fully solid as she stepped on them. Within half a minute she had made a full staircase spanning from one end of the gully to the other. And it didn't show that it had been hard for her. But she wasn't done surprising me there.

If I thought that Elsa building the staircase was impressive, then what she did next absolutely astounded me. She ran a few yards away from the staircase and stomped her foot on the ground, creating a large ice snowflake before using her powers to lift it off the ground and create a majestic palace entirely out of ice. I stood on the top stair simply staring up at what she had done. She had to be one of the most powerful Elementals ever if she could do all of this and not even break a sweat.

"So, what do you think?" asked Elsa from the doorway to the castle.

"I'll let you know when my brain finally processes what you did. Are you even feeling tired?"

"No, I feel fine."

"That cinches it. You are probably the most powerful Elemental to ever exist. If you can do this and not even struggle or feel tired after the exertion then there's really no conceivable limitations on your power. How do you feel after making this?" I questioned as we went inside.

"Better."

"That's what I thought. How long has it been since you've let yourself go like this?"

"I don't know, probably around several months. I don't get a chance to do this very often since I'm the queen."

"Well no wonder your abilities are acting up all the time, you were trying to hold it in. Magic in any form does not like to try and be contained, it has to be let out once in a while. If you keep it inside for extended periods of time then you become a sort of pressure vessel. You won't explode like Mortimer did but your powers will seek any chance they get to vent, and become hyper sensitive to your emotions. That's why the frost was forming on the walls of the cell when we first met."

"So all I have to do is just use my powers regularly and I should be able to control them better?"

"That's all you have to do. Find some time each week to come out here and build to your heart's content and you won't have as many problems. Wizard's orders," I said using an authoritative voice.

"Yes sir," she smiled with a mock salute. "And this will be a good place for me to do that. When I ran away at my coronation, I built this palace here but the original must have melted when I thawed Arendelle."

I laughed at her mock salute and rubbed my hands together. "Yes, I imagine that this is the perfect for you to get way and let go for a day or two. It will help immensely with your control but if you want to learn a little more you can."

"I do want to learn a little more," admitted Elsa quickly.

"You're the most eager apprentice I've had."

"You've had others?"

"One other, actually. His name is Andrew; he's a really smart guy who spends his time equally in the world of science and magic, using both to enhance the other. If he were here he'd probably have fixed the time jumper by now, he's that smart."

"How is that going for you?"

"Not well, I've hit a snag that might mean I'm staying here permanently."

"What happened?"

"The jumper uses a crystal array to focus and amplify the magical energy inside it every time I make a time jump. The main crystal got deformed somehow and unless I can find a replacement I'll be becoming a permanent resident."

"Where will you find a crystal that can do that?"

"That's the problem, Elsa. I have no idea where I can find one."

I sighed and we stood there for a minute before Elsa dragged me up the stairs.

"Come on, I just remembered that there's something I want to show you. I'm sure as an artist you'll appreciate this."

The blonde pulled me to a set of double doors and threw them open for me to see the stunning view that lay outside. The sun was only just beginning to set and tint the sky the very faintest of reds on the horizon. I walked out onto the balcony and just watched the view. Mist was rolling around the mountains, giving the impression that the range went on forever. I leaned against the rail and Elsa joined me, enjoying the serenity of the view we had.

"Even if you don't find a way to get back to your own time, surely there are some things here that you're interested in."

"Oh yeah, there are. Travelling back in time to this period, everything is so different from the world I'm used it can be a bit disorienting. But it's peaceful unlike anything I've experienced before. There are no skyscrapers, no large crowded cities with vehicles and angry drivers that shout obscenities at you when you get in their way, no light pollution so you can actually see all the stars at night, no billboards advertising some new product that they claim you can't live without."

_There's you._

I almost said that last part out loud but stopped myself before any damage could be done.

"It sounds like the future is rather noisy."

"It is," I laughed. "And it's getting noisier and more crowded. Technology has changed so many things like how we work, how we socialize, how we live and how we think about the universe in general. We've got man made satellites orbiting the earth that are broadcasting so many things around the globe from phone calls to TV shows to radio programs. And we're also using them to send signals into deep space because we're curious about what's out there. We wonder so often if we're alone in the universe, are we the only sentient beings in existence or are there other intelligent life forms?"

"What do you think?"

"I think it's entirely possible. Scientists have found other planets out there that could support human life and when you factor in the sheer size of creation, only a fool would say absolutely that we are the only intelligent life in the universe. One day I'm sure we'll know for sure."

"It all sounds like pure fantasy to me, but you're really who you say you are, a wizard from the future."

We stood for a minute in companionable silence for awhile before talking again about everything and nothing. Eventually I looked down at my watch which said it was nearing dinnertime. "It's starting to get late, we should probably go back."

"You're right."

We left the palace and as we were about to dissolve into the ball again for travel Elsa leaned up and pecked me on the cheek.

"That's to say thank you for everything," she smiled shyly.

"It's been my pleasure," I smiled back.


	8. Something is Coming

Days turned into weeks and time started to fly by for me. My days became somewhat of a blur as they fell into a pattern. They became predictable as I woke in the morning to go to the dining hall for breakfast that now included lighthearted banter with the royal family, going back to my room for repairs on the watch, and going to the ice palace every Tuesday and Thursday to train Elsa. By now though there was not so much teaching going on anymore as there was just talking about different things. The topics varied, sometimes centered on me, my life, the world I came from and philosophical issues of the present and future. Other times our conversations were centered on Elsa, about her childhood, and the events that resulted in Arendelle getting cast into an eternal winter and ultimately culminated in the reunion of the two sisters.

Looking back on the albeit limited time I had known her, I marveled at the changes I was seeing in the queen as we grew closer and she became more confident with her powers. Where once there had been a shy girl, doing her best to run a kingdom but scared of hurting anyone if her powers got out of hand, there was now an emerging woman who was fun, intelligent, and growing in confidence every day.

For Elsa, it was much the same. She lived for our lessons every Tuesday and Thursday. It was a time to get away from the stress of ruling a kingdom and just relax. She also just enjoyed spending the time with me. When she thought back on it, it was surprising to her how fast our relationship had progressed in such a short amount of time. Normally she was so guarded around people, rarely letting anyone new in. But with me, it was different in a way the Snow Queen couldn't explain. There was just something about me that made it easy for her to open up. Perhaps it was the fact that we were similar, both of us having powers and enabling us to relate on a level that others couldn't. Between myself and Anna, she no longer looked at her abilities as a curse and the fear that once ruled her life was practically nonexistent. She felt that she could truly live a full life now.

* * *

One particular day we were sitting in chairs I had conjured up and had given Elsa my sketch book to look through again. She had admitted that my drawings intrigued her and she was interested in the eclectic collection of work I had amassed inside. She was slowly turning through a section that mainly consisted of pictures of myself with friends when she saw one she found amusing.

"Alright, who's this nagging you in this picture?"

I looked and a smile worked its way onto my face. "That is Danica, a friend of mine for the past six years."

In the displayed drawing an experiment of mine had gone wrong and had destroyed a small part of the workspace in the basement of my place. I was brushing myself off with an annoyed look on my face while Danica stood behind me, shaking her finger at me while giving a lecture and looked visibly mad.

"It looks like she really keeps you in place."

"You have no idea. As of late she's really been going on about me finding a girlfriend. Just yesterday she was saying…"

"Wait a minute, did you say yesterday?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

"Because, you arrived here alone, no one was with you."

"Oh, that's right! I haven't told you about Danica at all, have I? I am so sorry, I've been here for nearly three weeks and I haven't told you about one of the most important people in my life. She's gonna be pissed about that…"

"Never mind that now, who is she and why is she one of the most important people in your life?"

"Danica is a memory spirit. Her job is to acquire knowledge and use it to help the wizard she is in the service of. You see, memory spirits act as a repository for magical knowledge. They're passed down from wizard to wizard and learn throughout their years of service with that wizard until he or she dies and they are given to another wizard. Danica's been around for a while, about five hundred years by my time.

"She has been invaluable to me since I became her keeper, she's a great assistant as long as you don't mind her occasional triad or lecture and she's very blunt in her opinions. That's something I need sometimes to keep me from going off on something that will get me killed. She's been there to reel me in and say, stop, think, then act and was the most helpful to me in the first year of the war when…"

I stopped mid-sentence suddenly not knowing how to proceed. I had never talked to anyone but Danica about the loss of Alana and even then those talks never lasted long. They started with Danica bringing up the subject as lightly as she could. I would get defensive, dodge her questions, get angry, yell at her, and storm off. Even now, three years later I still didn't like to talk about it. It still hurt. I had never opened up to anyone about this but for some reason, I felt as though I could talk about it with Elsa. The question was, was I going to or not?

"When what happened?" she asked innocently.

I swallowed and looked at her closely. "Elsa, I should tell you that the subject we're about to broach… I haven't talked about it with anyone in nearly three years. It's a painful chapter in my past, one I try to avoid revisiting because it still hurts."

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't…"

"No, I need to talk about this with someone. Danica's right, as usual, that I shouldn't keep this bottled up inside me. I've carried this burden for a while, and I can't do it anymore. Three years ago, my perspective, the war started with the Battle of San Francisco. The warlocks had summoned a small handful of demons and were tearing apart the city. I was leading a small group of wizards in the battle and we managed to kill one of the demons but a warlock saw us and nearly killed me. I would have died if someone else on the team hadn't seen him in time to push me out of the way.

"Her name was Alana and we had just started a relationship a few months earlier. We had been friends for years before so we were already very close. She pushed me out of the way of the curse and took it herself before she could raise a shield. Seeing her get hurt like that made me angrier than I had ever been before in my life. I-I almost killed the warlock who hurt her. I had him backed up against a wall, he was defenseless. But he was just a boy, only a few years younger than I was at the time. I still wanted to kill him though, I was going to, but something stopped me. I ended up letting him go and returned to Alana in time to see her pass on. But before she did she made me promise to keep on living. It was hard for me to keep going after she died but with Danica's help I made it through the worst of it. But not a day goes by that I don't remember and think about Alana."

"I'm so sorry, that's one of the saddest things I've ever heard. Is Alana the woman that was with you in that picture?"

"Yes, she is."

Elsa didn't say anything else, she didn't need to. As I stood there, looking out over the mountains but not really seeing anything I became aware that she had pressed her lips against my cheek again. I looked her in the eye and through my powers sensed the emotions that were on the surface. She was truly sorry about what had happened, but I also sensed admiration and respect for having let the young warlock go instead of killing him, and dare I say it… love. I suddenly found myself leaning in closer to Elsa, lips slightly parted. Elsa was leaning in as well, her eyes already closed. The emotional readings I got from her were all over the chart. She was nervous, excited, a bit scared, and longing for this kiss.

My eyes drifted closed as well as the distance between us shrunk. There was a tiny voice in my head asking me if I wanted this and I didn't know how to answer. I couldn't commit to a relationship, not here. If I fixed the watch I felt I had an obligation to return and help in the war. On top of that, as I told Danica, we were from different times. I felt I couldn't stay if the watch was repaired and Elsa certainly couldn't come with me. If she did the Confederation would send her back immediately and they certainly wouldn't let me come back if I returned. There were so many reasons this wouldn't work but in that moment there was something in me that said, 'screw the odds, just kiss her already!'

We were so close. I could feel her breath on my face. We weren't even an inch apart when something happened. A spasm jerked through my body, causing me to stumble and a chill ran down my spine. Images appeared in front of me. Something was awakening, something that had been dormant, something that was to be feared. I heard voices but they were too garbled to make out properly. Something big swam in front of me, something I couldn't fully make out in the shadows. Finally the voices became clear enough for me to hear what they were saying. It was one word, being repeated over and over. Ragnarok. One last spasm ran through my body and I collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Daniel, are you alright?"

"Wha-?"

"I said, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"What happened? You started acting as though you were in pain or something!"

"I think… I think I just had a precognitive episode."

"A pre what?"

"A precognitive episode, a glimpse of a possible future event."

"Well what did you see?"

"I-I'm not sure. There were voices, but they were too garbled to make out. I'm not sure if this was a possible future for the war or if it's something more immediate, something that's going to happen here in the near future."

"Is there anything you are sure about?"

I hesitated for a minute before answering. I knew more than I was letting on. This threat of Ragnarok was most certainly more immediate than the war. Precognitions didn't give a wizard a glimpse of the future any farther than a few weeks at the most. To have a precognition about the war would be impossible. And it got worse; if I remembered correctly then Ragnarok was the word in Norse mythology for the Apocalypse. Doomsday, the end of the world, was coming. But did I dare let Elsa know that? I decided not to, there was no need to worry her yet.

"I'm more than eighty percent sure that this precog was about the war," I lied convincingly. "We should probably go back now, I'm going to get a headache soon."

Elsa looked at me for a second as though sensing something wrong before agreeing. As we walked back down the mountain I began formulating a plan in my head. Ragnarok was coming then there could very well be no stopping it. But I wasn't going to let it win without a fight, especially when I had something… someone worth fighting for.


	9. Confessions

Ch. 9: Confessions

The moment we got back to the palace I went straight to my room and started meditating. I needed to gather all the information I possible could if I was going to build the best defense plan I could against Ragnarok. Of course, there was no guarantee that I would succeed but something about this Ragnarok didn't seem right to me. Maybe there was a loophole for me to exploit here.

"You're back from your date early, something go wrong?" asked Danica as she worked on some sort of magical equation.

"It wasn't a date, and yes, something did go wrong."

"What happened now?"

"Well, if we're not extraordinarily lucky, we might not have a future to return to because it'll be gone."

"How?"

"Are you familiar with the term 'Ragnarok?'"

"Ragnarok… Ragnarok, let me think… got it! Ragnarok means doomsday; it comes from ancient Norse mythology. Are you saying it might actually happen, now?"

"I had a precognitive episode at the ice palace, I saw something that looked like it was underground and there were voices saying Ragnarok over and over. What do you think that means?"

"I think it means we're royally screwed unless you can do something about it."

"Yeah, and that's a mighty big 'if.'"

"You've arguably fought worse."

"I've never fought the apocalypse before. This is in an entirely different league."

"Well hopefully there's still enough time for me to finish this project of mine."

"What is it? The equation looks familiar.

"You've probably seen me working on it before. It's an equation for something I'm calling a Pandorica until I can think of something that's less likely to get me sued."

"That's not a prison for the Doctor, so what does it do?"

"This Pandorica is a small box that contains magical energy and once activated, it starts enhancing and amplifying the energy until it opens and… pop goes the weasel."

"If we had a few of those at the Battle of San Francisco we might not have had as many casualties."

"They would be effective against lesser demonic entities and constructs, yes. Did you tell Elsa about Ragnarok?"

"No."

"Why not?" she asked as she whirled around to face me.

"I don't know what kind of timetable I'm working with yet. It could be a month or two before this even happens and if that's the case maybe I can stop this before it starts if I can gather enough information. Besides, I don't want to worry her unnecessarily."

"Are you even planning on telling her?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"When I have more information I will tell her what's coming."

"When are you going to tell her?" she persisted.

"Later!"

"Sooner-later or later-later?"

"Come on Danica, it's not like I'm going to wait until the last minute to tell Elsa that it's entirely probable that the apocalypse is going to happen in the 18th century and oh, by the way, your kingdom is going to be the first to go!" I finally snapped at her.

"Tell her sooner rather than later because if she finds out you lied to her, I don't think the two of will be getting together anytime soon."

"You know what? I am getting tired of you saying I should start a relationship with Elsa because I can't! I'm not going to deny that my feelings for her are growing and if we can't fix the watch then maybe I'll consider acting on those feelings. But until then I will not allow myself to commit to a relationship with her! It would only end with both us hurt if the watch can be fixed. And I'm not putting myself through that again. Now I will thank you very much to stop meddling in my love life and mind your own business!"

After the outburst I grabbed the violin case from the desk and left, slamming the door behind me. I walked around the palace looking for a room I had discovered the last time I went exploring. I opened a door after a few minutes of searching and saw that it was the one I was looking for. I walked over to the piano and pulled the tarp off, stirring up some dust in the process. A simple cleaning spell took care of the problem and I then played a few notes.

The piano needed tuning.

* * *

As was Elsa's habit when we got back from our time on the North Mountain she got a mug of hot chocolate from the kitchen before going to her study to take care of more paperwork before dinner. But as she went over the never ending pile of documents, trade requests, and bills on her desk, her mind kept wandering as it seemed to be doing more and more lately whenever she tried to do her work. And also as had become normal, her mind was wandering to me. This time her thoughts were on the near kiss we had in the ice palace before my precognitive episode. Elsa suspected that there was something else there that I wasn't telling but had decided that that was a topic for a later time. Right now she was trying to deal with the growing feelings she felt for me and she wasn't entirely sure she liked the answer she kept coming back to. She was falling in love with me.

Eventually the need to talk to me about what had almost happened became too strong and Elsa left to find me with a groan. Yet another day that she wasn't going to get much work done. As the blonde walked down the long hallways to my room she became aware of the sounds of a violin coming from somewhere near her in the castle. She followed the sound and as she stopped outside the room the music was coming from she realized she recognized the tune. It was her song, the one she sang the night of her coronation after she accidentally released her powers. And now someone was playing that tune on a violin… very well. She just listened as the music ended and 'Amazing Grace' began a second later. Smiling to herself, Elsa raised a fist and knocked on the door.

"Come in," I said and stopped playing.

Elsa opened the door and walked in, a smile on her face. "I heard you playing, you're really good."

"Thanks," I blushed lightly. "I've been playing the violin longer than I have been practicing magic. It's become an outlet for pent up emotions because I enjoy music so much."

"Where did you hear the last thing you were playing?"

I had been about to start another song on the piano which I had tuned but tensed when she brought up my playing her song. "Ah, you heard that?"

"I did, you played it beautifully."

"Well the violin is a beautiful instrument and can stir emotion when played right but I think it will always be overshadowed by your voice."

It was Elsa's turn to blush now. "Thank you, but you still haven't answered my question."

"So much for attempting to change the subject," I said with an exaggerated sigh. "I was exploring the palace early the morning you say me in the library. I had actually just left this room when I heard you singing. You really do have a beautiful voice and it just drew me in like a siren's song. The song you were singing has been stuck in my head ever since and I finally decided to try and make a version of it for the violin. You heard the end product of about half an hour's worth of effort."

"That's nice, you never cease to find ways to surprise me."

"Well I don't think I'd be much of a wizard if I didn't," I smiled.

The Snow Queen smile back before bringing up the topic she most wanted to talk about. "Daniel, I want to talk about what happened in the ice palace."

"What part, the near kiss or the precognitive experience?"

"The first one."

"Well this conversation just got rather awkward very fast."

"I know, but I can't stop thinking about it and it's interfering with my ability to do my work. I thought talking about it would help."

"OK… you go first."

"I'm going to be very honest with you, Daniel. I've really enjoyed the time we've spent together over the past three weeks, they've become the highlights of my days. You're the only one other that Anna who can make me feel like I'm a kid again. And since you've started teaching me, my control has gotten so much better, even when I'm getting really emotional. I'll always be grateful to you for that and I don't think I'll ever be able to say thank you enough for many reasons. One of those reasons is that you've helped me see my powers and myself in a different light. I used to think my abilities were a curse, especially when I was isolated in my room for fear of hurting Anna again. Even after I thawed the kingdom I was still scared of what I might do accidently but you've helped me overcome those fears. I always look forward to spending that time with you and I think you do to. Before I say anything else, though, I have a question I want to ask you."

"Ask away," I conceded.

The question she asked caught me completely off guard.

"Daniel, do you love me?"

I stood stark still for a few seconds, so surprised I was by the question.

"I-I… Elsa, I… it's complicated, and… I…"

"It's a simple question, do you love me?"

"That's not quite as simple as you think. That question and the answer that follows usually end up changing lives."

"Maybe, but do you love me?" she asked again.

I reached out with my powers and sensed the emotions that were bubbling near the surface. She was scared, anxious, and bracing herself for the 'no' she was sure was coming. I searched my feelings for the wonderful woman before me and attempted to come to a conclusion. I knew that should I fix the watch then I would have to go back and Elsa would have to remain. No matter how you looked at it, it was a no-win scenario. I'd be sparing us both a world of hurt if I just said 'no' but would I be able to live with myself if I lied to her about this?

Finally I came to a conclusion and heaved in a breath. I looked Elsa in the eyes and leaned forward as I had in the ice palace. This time there was nothing to stop us. Our lips touched and Elsa went rigid at the contact. Finally I broke the kiss and looked back into her eyes.

Now the emotions had changed greatly. She was elated, shocked, a bit confused, and trying to process what had just happened. I leaned in close to her ear and whispered two words.

"I do."


	10. A New Set of Problems

It had been lying dormant under the earth for centuries. Ancient wizards had trapped it and put it into its slumber and it had been there since, waiting for the time when it could wake again. It would never have woken had there been an explosion of dark magic somewhere nearby. Now it was beginning to wake. It had power now, absorbed from the pulse of energy that swept through. It had a way out of its prison. Soon it would return to the world of man and continue its destruction. An eye twitched as it tried to wake up, but was not strong enough, not yet. The spell that had been placed on it was still strong but weakening now that it was able to counter it. Soon the spell would break entirely. It was inevitable. Ragnarok was coming.

* * *

Elsa and I sat in the chair, her head snuggled up underneath my chin as I softly stroked her braid. She sighed contentedly before looking up at me, a smile on her face that had been there for the past ten minutes.

"What are you thinking?" she finally asked softly.

"I'm wondering if this is all some sort of crazy dream and I'm going to wake up soon in my house back in San Francisco. Because I never thought I'd feel this way again after Alana, she was that special to me. But you are proving me wrong. Granted of course, that there are a number of ways that this relationship can go… wrong. And that's putting it mildly."

Elsa pinched my arm and I jumped.

"Ouch!"

"You're awake."

"OK, that is a relief. But it's only one of a few worries I have right now."

"Care to share the rest?"

"Well… alright. I guess I can go to confession. To be perfectly honest, there's a part of me that had hoped to avoid this dynamic in our relationship altogether, and it has absolutely nothing to do with you or your powers," I added when I saw her face. "Seriously, you need to overcome that fear of what you can do, it's part of what causes you to lose control every now and then."

"If it's not me then what is it you were afraid of?"

"The first thing you have to understand is that when I come from, as I said before, there is a war. It's not going well for the wizards even though there's been a stalemate for the past year. That, however, was before we found out about the Elemental Manipulator. If it's completed then it means global domination for the warlocks. You're probably thinking right now that that's a problem that's almost two hundred years in the future. But that's not thinking fourth dimensionally. For me that war is happening right now. We lost a lot of good wizards in the first year and it's gotten to where apprentices, wizards who aren't of age yet, are fighting on the front lines and have positions guarding places like our seat of power in England. If I find a way to fix the watch then I'll feel I have an obligation to return and help in the war."

"That's something I can understand, it's commendable of you."

"But that creates a problem in that if I go back I'll never see you again."

"What do you mean?" asked Elsa, sitting up a bit straighter now.

"There are very strict rules governing the use of time travel. The spells to travel through time are highly complex, beyond me right now, and if they're performed with the slightest of mistakes then there could be a reality shattering explosion. The watch I used to get here in the first place is the safest means of travel but even it's dangerous. If I fail to realign the energies in it properly then there's going to be a hole the size of Belgium in the time stream. There's also continuity to take into consideration. It's for that reason that if you come back with me the Confederation will just send you back and also why they won't let me come back. We'll never be together again."

"Isn't there anything you can do? Can't you not just fix the watch?"

"If I stopped trying to repair it before I was certain I couldn't, then I wouldn't be able to live with myself. That war is going on right now, people are dying. And after I lost Alana I made a promise to myself that I would do whatever I could to ensure that as many people as possible don't suffer the same way. If I refuse to even try and get back to help those people then I am a failure. I failed in my duties as a wizard."

"What do you mean by duties?"

"Wizards are the police for the supernatural world. We're the ones who maintain the balance of power, keep the magical world from tearing itself apart and keep it separate from the world of science. If the warlocks win then that balance is upset for the first time in memory. No one knows what would happen but we suspect it would be bad. Now I know that I'm only one man, but sometimes one man can make all the difference. It doesn't happen very often but this is one of those times in my life when I have no idea what I should do.

"I mean it seems that most of my life is one big series of tragedies with me losing a lot of people I care about. It would be easy for me to take the selfish route and just stay here with you. But if I did that then I'd be in a constant war with my conscience for violating my moral code. Either way it looks like a lose-lose scenario. And as if that's not bad enough, there's more! I won't deny that my feelings for you are very strong but what if this is only a temporary thing? I mean, we've only known each other for three weeks and already we're saying we love each other. I'm not really a pessimistic person, but this potentially might end soon."

"There are a lot of things that could potentially go wrong with this relationship, but I think my feelings for you are strong enough that I'm willing to give us a chance. What about you?"

"I want to give us a chance as well, but don't get too mad at me if I seem… like I'm distracted or something else is going on. I've not been in a committed relationship since Alana and I still have feelings for her. There's probably going to be a part of me that feels like I'm betraying her memory but I know she'd have wanted me to move on eventually and find someone else."

"Then the only thing we really have to be afraid of is the possibility of you repairing the watch."

"I don't even want to think about that possibility right now."

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," smiled Elsa. "Let's just enjoy this while it lasts."

"I don't think you'd be saying these kinds of things to someone you just recently met before I got stranded here."

"What can I say? You bring out the more confident and daring part of me," Elsa giggled.

"It's times like this I'm reminded how much of a rollercoaster love can be," I chuckled. " 'It's strong and it's sudden, it can be cruel sometimes, but it might just save your life.' "

"What's that from?"

"It's part of a song a band called Huey Lewis and the News wrote in the 1980s. It's one of my favorites."

"Think you can play it?"

"I might be able to on the piano, but I don't promise to sing the whole song. I don't remember all the lyrics."

"Maybe I can help you remember."

"… Give me a minute, I need to decide it I like the sound of that or not."

* * *

An hour later I was walking back into my room, a spring in my step and whistling 'The Power of Love.'

"You look much better than when you left almost two hours ago," Danica noted.

"What can I say, music really helps me."

"I know it does, but this is the first time you've come back practically… glowing. What happened? And don't lie, you know I can tell when you are."

"No comment."

"Two hours away, you come back glowing, there's a spring in your step, and what's this on your coat?"

"What's on my coat?"

"A platinum blonde hair," she said as she got closer to look at it. "You didn't!"

"Didn't what? What do you think happen?"

"You and Elsa, it finally happened, didn't it? I knew this was inevitable!"

"You have a wild imagination."

"No, I just know from looking at you."

"Well this time you're wrong."

"I'm not entirely convinced. I haven't seen you like this since you were with… Alana. Pleasedon'tkillmeforsayinghername!"

I glared at Danica for a few seconds before speaking. "Normally I'd flip out on you for saying her name but this time I think I'll let it slide."

"You are not helping your case that something hasn't happened between you and Elsa, you know. The truth will come out and I'll be the one who finds it."

"The game's afoot, huh?"

"It is and I am sure that this will end with the reveal that you and Elsa are in a romantic relationship, just like I predicted. The question is, how did this happen? Let me think…"

"And she puzzled and she puzzled until her puzzler was stumped," I muttered.

"I heard that."

"I'm sure you did. Give up yet?"

"No, I'm just warming up. Alright, here's my theory. Knowing you the way I do, I know that you would have never admitted your feelings to Elsa until you were sure you were going to be here permanently, which is not the case yet. So that means something else happened. I'd guess that you two were talking and you accidently let your feelings slip but you always have been guarded with what you tell when it really matters. So that means that maybe you were caught unaware by Elsa. Perhaps she told how she felt and in your stupor, you also confessed before you knew what had happened. Or maybe you did know what you were saying and you told her after an epic internal debate. How am I doing?"

"I keep forgetting that you live with me and spend part of your off time reading detective novels and watching mystery shows."

"Yes, I knew I was right!"

"Hey, hey, hey, I didn't say you were right!"

"You didn't need to, your face said it all as did your response. You didn't confirm or deny my claim and that usually means I'm right! Congratulations! Now there'd better be a ring on her finger before there're mini ice wizards running around."

"Danica! Please don't say something like that in front of Elsa, I'm sure she'd be mortified by the mere suggestion."

"Either way, ring first, kids later."

"Let's see if this relationship goes anywhere first. We've only known each other for three weeks so for all we know this could be a passing infatuation. And this also adds a bunch of stuff to the current equation that I really could do without. If the watch is repaired then I'm going to go insane with the ethical battle that'll happen. And I do not want to see the inside of an 18th century insane asylum."

"Can I be a bridesmaid?"

"Did you even hear what I just said?"

"No, I wasn't paying attention."

"Back in your crystal, Danica, I feel another headache coming."

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait people. Between real life and a case of writer's block this chapter did not want to be written. Hope it satisfies, let me know if it did or didn't with a review. I plan on updating more regularly this year so please don't kill me. Before I forget, happy new year to all my readers._

_Knight Writer 95_


	11. Found Out

Almost another week rolled by and the relationship between myself and Elsa only seemed to grow stronger. She started spending time with me in my room as I worked on the watch, trying to find any other faults with it to occupy the time I would have otherwise spent looking for a focusing crystal. The queen and Danica got along better than I had hoped for, and Danica was surprisingly respectful enough of either my request or the queen herself to refrain from asking questions that would no doubt have mortified Elsa beyond belief. But I suspected the real reason was that she just enjoyed getting a rise out of me personally with those questions. Whatever the reason, I was grateful.

On a rare day that Elsa had some free time from her duties she used it to spend time with Anna because it had been a while since the sisters had some time to be together. Anna, being the person she was, was trying to get information about her older sister's relationship with me while playing in the winter wonder land the elder sister had created in the ball room.

"So how is it being in a relationship with a wizard?" asked Anna as she rolled a ball in the snow for a snowman.

"He has yet to cease surprising me. Daniel's a proper gentleman, he makes me feel special and always finds some way to compliment me."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say my sister has finally found true love."

"Anna, how can you say this is true love? I do really like Daniel but we both know that there are so many reasons this relationship can't work, number one being that he's from the future. If he goes back to his time then he won't be able to come back here ever again."

"When did he tell you that?"

"Right before we kissed, he was trying his best to let me down easy as he put it. He wasn't exactly looking for a relationship and he didn't want to start one because he knew we might be broken apart regardless of if we wanted to or not. His own sense of right and wrong might be responsible for us never seeing each other again and I can see he's very conflicted about it, despite his attempts to hide it."

"Alright, assuming that Daniel can't fix his watch, where do you see your relationship in a year? Don't think, just answer," asked Anna with a grin.

"I see us still together and… engaged."

Elsa said the last word quietly, as though she were still trying to process what her mind had thought of in response to Anna's question. She really was in love with me after four weeks. She thought this sort of thing only happened in fairy tales

* * *

After the sisters were done building snowmen and the ball room, Elsa left to find me to talk but found my room empty. There were two other places Elsa could think of where I could be, the music room being one of them. But I wasn't in the music room playing a tune on the piano or on my violin. That left the library. Elsa walked to there but as she got near the door she heard two voices. One was my own, the other was Danica. The Snow Queen stopped outside the door to listen and was surprised by what she heard.

* * *

"Alright, what did you bring me to the library for?" asked Danica as soon as she constituted herself.

"To help me look for books that might potentially contain information on Ragnarok. I figured the library would be the best place to look but it's big enough that some help would be greatly appreciated."

"I think you're forgetting that I'm a spirit. I can't interact with the physical environment, only poltergeists can."

"I'm not forgetting, just look at the titles and let me know if you think a book might by useful. I'd do this myself but again, it's a big library."

"OK, I'll help but have you told Elsa yet?"

"No, not yet. But I will really soon. I haven't gotten as much out of my meditation as I'd hoped but I have enough to be certain that the Ragnarok we're facing is the real doomsday. I think we're dealing with some sort of beast."

"If you're telling her soon then tell her tonight at dinner."

"Anna and Kristoff will be there too, you know."

"Doesn't matter. You've been keeping this to yourself for a week now and Elsa is the queen of Arendelle. She'll want to know because she has people to protect and she can't do that when her boyfriend hasn't been truthful with her."

"I don't want to see these people harmed and that's why I'm telling her very soon. Elsa does need to know about this and I know more now than I did a week ago. Now I'll be able to answer more of the questions she's bound to have," I said as I climbed a ladder to look at books on the higher shelves.

* * *

Elsa couldn't move from her spot outside the library. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. So there was something more to the precognitive episode I'd had last week, I hadn't been truthful and it was something that threatened her kingdom. After her mind stopped spinning from the revelation the blonde retreated to her bedchambers. She needed time to get her head straight and decide what to do next.

* * *

Two hours later and Danica and I had only found a few scraps of ambiguous information in the library. I knew it was a longshot when we started but I thought it would be worth a look. What little we did find out, while not very helpful, did seem to confirm what I was already suspecting which was both a relief and a cause for worry. I was more certain now that we were not dealing with the actual doomsday and that was the relief. What worried me was that it looked more and more like we were dealing with a dangerous beast that could wreak havoc on Arendelle and other kingdoms if it got loose. It had to be stopped here. After putting Danica's crystal back in my room I went in search of the Snow Queen. I figured now would be as good a time as any to finally tell her about Ragnarok.

I eventually found her in the music room but I could instantly tell something was off. There was frost covering the walls and Elsa was hunched over in one of the chairs as though she were depressed. I would have to tread carefully.

"Elsa, are you alright?" I asked softly.

"Go away," she said.

"No, I'm not leaving when you're like this. Now tell me what's wrong, please," I asked as I kneeled down by her chair.

Elsa was silent for a few seconds before answering. "You lied to me."

"What?" was all I could ask in my surprise. I didn't see this turn coming.

"About your precognition. You lied to me about it, you knew it didn't have anything to do with the war and hid it from me. I'm the queen of Arendelle and I need to know things like that, I have people to protect! If you lied to me about that, what else did you lie to me about? Do you even love me?"

"Don't, just don't go there, Elsa. Everything else I've told you is the truth, I swear! You are the only other woman in my life I have loved."

"Then why did you lie to me?"

"Elsa, please try to understand, keeping secrets has become almost second nature to me because of the war. For a time we had a traitor in our ranks and I was the one the Confederation assigned to finding him. I couldn't tell anyone, not even Andrew. And even after that, there were lots of secrets I had to keep. I didn't tell you right away because I didn't want to worry you prematurely. There was a real chance my precognition didn't even have to do with Arendelle and I didn't have a lot of answers for the questions you were likely to have. I wanted to get some of those answers before I told you so we could better prepare ourselves right away."

"I understand your reasoning, but it's no excuse for lying to me. Now please leave me alone."

"Elsa –"

"Please leave," she said in a quiet voice.

After a moment's hesitation I nodded reluctantly and got up. I had a lot to make up for and it wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

When I got back to me room Danica was out of her crystal and working on the equation to the Pandorica again.

"I assume something went wrong," she said when she saw me.

"That's an understatement," I laughed humorlessly as I sat down.

"What happened this time?"

"Elsa overheard us in the library and found out about Ragnarok."

"Oh, is she mad?"

"Hurt is more like it. You were right again, I should have told her sooner."

"See what happens when you don't take my advice? The universe turns on you and bites you on the ass."

"How's the Pandorica coming along?" I asked, wanting to change the subject.

"It's almost done."

"Think you can have a few of those made within the next three to four days?"

"It shouldn't be that hard. What do you need them for?"

"Ragnarok, I don't know what it is yet but I'm going to need all the advantages I can get if we're going to survive."

"Alright, you've got yourself some Pandoricas. Anything else?"

"Yeah, I think I might have come up with a way to get another focusing crystal and I'll need your help with the equation. I've actually been thinking about it for a while now and I think it might be possible."

"What are we doing this time?"

"We are going to attempt a duplication of the secondary crystal array. I'm hoping that with some adjustments to the runes we'll be able to create a crystal big enough to suit our needs."

"That could work," said Danica after a moment's thought. "But does this mean you're leaving after Ragnarok?"

"That depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On whether or not Elsa still wants me here," I said and put my pen to paper to start the equation for the modified duplication spell.


	12. Man to Man

Dinner that night was a quiet affair and for the first time since I'd arrived in the nineteenth century I was not present. Elsa was still quiet and Anna and Kristoff didn't want to be the one to set off the metaphorical bomb. Eventually, though, Anna had to ask what was going on.

"Are you alright, Elsa?" she asked.

"I'm fine," the queen answered.

"I don't think so, Kristoff, back me up."

Elsa glanced at her sister's husband.

"Well, you're attitude is a stark contrast to what it has been recently," he said.

"Fine, I found out that Daniel has been lying to me for a week."

Both of the other members of the royal family looked up in surprise. Kristoff in particular almost looked like he wanted to reset my jaw. He was by no means a violent person but he was protective of his family and didn't like seeing his wife or her sister hurt in any way. He resolved then and there to have a talk with me after dinner.

"What's he been keeping from you?" Anna asked.

"There's something dangerous coming to Arendelle very soon. He doesn't know what it is yet, all he's got to go on is the word 'Ragnarok'. I'm going to have the town evacuated tomorrow."

"But where will everybody go?"

"To neighboring kingdoms that will let them in. What's important is to make sure they're not here when whatever it is that's coming gets here."

"Is Daniel even doing anything about this?"

"I don't know what he's planning," the queen answered honestly.

The dining hall descended into silence again and stayed that way for the rest of the meal.

* * *

As soon as dinner was over Kristoff excused himself from his wife and made a beeline for my room. He knocked on the door but received no response. He knocked again, louder this time, and this time he heard a voice on the other side.

"Come in."

Kristoff turned the knob and walked in to a room that had almost half of its walls covered with papers and parchment filled with equations the likes of which he had never seen before. I was right in the middle of the semi-chaos, fountain pen scratching furiously on another piece of paper. I wasn't looking my best at the moment as I had removed my tie, unbuttoned my vest, unfastened the top two buttons of my shirt and had bloodshot eyes.

"Alright Danica, how's this?" I asked and showed the paper to her.

"Well that depends. Are you trying to duplicate an inanimate object or turn a squirrel inside out?"

I looked at the equation again and found the mistake I had made. I corrected it and Danica smiled.

"That looks much better," she said.

"Thanks a lot. Alright Kristoff, what can I do for you?" I asked as I turned to face him and was met with a fist colliding with my jaw.

"As entertaining as this might be, I think I'll just go back in my crystal," said Danica before dissolving.

"I didn't see that coming. Do you really think this is wise, Kristoff, picking a fight with a wizard?" I questioned as I picked myself up off the floor.

"You lied to Elsa and endangered the lives of everyone in Arendelle," he said strongly.

"You make it sound much worse than it is. Well, the first part is as bad as you make it sound, the second half, not so much. But I digress, I actually did know what I was doing. For the most part. Except when it came to Elsa."

"Are you going to shut up?"

"Eventually. But if you hit me again I'm turning you into a donkey."

"What do you mean you knew what you were doing? You were endangering lives!"

"I wasn't endangering anyone, I'm a wizard in the service of the Protectorate! It's my job to protect innocents and I take it seriously!"

"And how is not telling Elsa that something dangerous is about to land in Arendelle for the past week not endangering lives?"

"I'm a wizard, I meditated to try and get a timetable. Whatever's coming is going to arrive the day after tomorrow at the earliest. I was going to tell Elsa today but she found out before I wanted to tell her and now she refuses to talk to me. But that aside we have all day tomorrow to get people out of Arendelle and by the time Ragnarok comes knocking on our door, I'd be ready with some defense plans."

"You didn't tell the queen the truth, how do we know you're really going to protect us?"

At last I'd had enough. All the anger and frustration that had been pent up inside me since the start of the war poured forth and I exploded at the man standing before me.

"Because it's my job and I'd do it even if it wasn't!" I roared. "I've been fighting in a war for the past three years to keep the world from falling into chaos! I've lost friends and made mistakes in the process but I did my best to keep innocents safe! I've put my life on the line for what I believe in more times than I can count, I've been keeping the darkness at bay, and it has changed me. That's what war does to a man and I'm not even sure what kind of a man I am anymore, let alone if I'm a good one. But I never stopped, I kept going. I keep doing what I think is right and I think that protecting this kingdom is the right thing to do! So I'll be _damned_ if I sit back and let this kingdom burn! So to answer your question, Kristoff, yes, I'm going to protect Arendelle with everything I have! I don't care if you believe me or not, it doesn't matter! And you know what? You don't really have a choice because whatever this thing is, it's huge and magical and I'm your only line of defense."

By now I had backed Kristoff up against a wall and was staring him down with a fierce gaze that would make even the bravest of men cower in fear.

"Now I'll thank you to leave my room and let me get back to my work."

Kristoff swallowed audibly before turning and leaving the room, trembling slightly. After he had left, I sat down heavily in the chair and sighed before rubbing my eyes. If I survived Ragnarok then I might have to see someone about my anger.

* * *

After getting his fear somewhat under control, Kristoff walked back to his and Anna's room. From the second he stepped in, Anna knew something was wrong. Her husband was shaking and still had a bit of fear in his eyes.

"Kristoff, what's wrong?" she asked as she put down the book she had been reading.

"I-I went to talk to Daniel after dinner and it didn't go quite how I planned."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, but he scared the hell out of me."

"What happened? Tell me."

Kristoff sat down on the bed before answering Anna.

"I went to his room to confront him about lying to Elsa and for endangering the lives of everyone here and I kind of punched him."

Anna raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I called him out on what he had done and expected him to get defensive, which he did. What I didn't expect was for him to explode in anger and start shouting at me. He said that the war he's been in has changed him and he doesn't know what kind of a man he is anymore but he'll still protect us, even if it costs him his life. But he was so scary, I don't know if I'll sleep tonight. He seemed almost like a monster that parents tell their kids about to get them to behave."

"Do you think we can trust him?"

"I don't know, he says he will but at the same time he's been lying for a week."

"Then it looks like until he gives us reason to doubt him, we'll have to trust him."

"You're willing to give him a second chance even after he hurt your sister?"

"Of course. I've seen the way the two of them look at each other and how they interact. Elsa was the happiest I've ever seen her when they were together. And despite what Daniel's done, I still trust him to do what's right."

"I wish I had your optimism."

"Maybe one day you will. Now come on, let's worry about these problems tomorrow and just enjoy tonight."

* * *

Fourteen hours and several mugs of coffee later I had finished the alterations to the duplication circle and had it drawn on the floor in chalk. I placed the secondary crystal array in one circle and closed it with a bit of will. The runes glowed before dimming again and I saw the subtle outline of another crystal in the other circle. It would take nearly all day but I'd soon have a replacement focusing crystal. I smiled at the thought and flopped onto the bed. It was time to get some much needed sleep. I already had plans for defensive wards for the castle and some other weapons that might give me an edge in the coming battle. Getting it all ready, especially the wards, would take a while. But preparing it all would have to wait until I woke up. The last waking thought to enter my mind was that the watch was sure to be put to use.

* * *

It was time. It finally had enough power to break the ancient spell that had been put on it. It was time to return to the world and bring chaos and destruction. For centuries it had been imprisoned underground. But no more. It was time to wake again. It was time to be free. Freedom was at long last within its grasp. This time no one would stop it. Somewhere deep underground, a massive form stirred in its tomb. A reptilian like eye opened and the slit like pupil focused.

It was awake at last.

The creature stood up and shook itself, stretching its long neck and letting out a deafening roar that reverberated throughout the cave.

It was a signal to the entire world that Ragnarok was here.

* * *

_A/N: I know this chapter isn't up to my usual standards but I wanted to use Kristoff a bit more and I wanted someone other than Danica to call Daniel out on his mistakes. However his confrontation with the wizard went differently than I had planned but I figured that after fighting in a war for three years and losing his girlfriend, Daniel would have a lot of pent up rage and anger that had yet to be released and it was going to find its way to the surface eventually. Anyway, next chapter might see a step toward reconciliation between Daniel and Elsa and the arrival of Ragnarok. I hope the battle doesn't disappoint._


	13. Ragnarok Cometh

The next morning Anna was walking by the ball room on her way to the dining hall when she heard a humming noise coming from within the ball room. The door was partly open already and when she looked in she saw me in the middle of the room with a stone in my hand.

"Daniel?"

"AH!" startled by Anna's voice, I jumped and nearly dropped the stone. "Anna, please don't sneak up on me like that! I nearly dropped this!"

"Sorry, but what are you doing in here?"

"I'm enhancing this ward stone as best I can," I answered before returning my attention to the obelisk shaped stone.

"What's it supposed to do?" the redhead questioned.

"A ward stone is a protective device that can envelope a given area in a protective field against hostile invaders."

"So you're going to use that to protect the town?"

"Unfortunately this ward stone has limited range and there's only so much I can do about that. At the most it'll be able to protect the palace. Any more than that and I'd need a bigger stone. The village is being evacuated, isn't it?"

"Yes, the villagers start moving out in a few hours."

"Good, because it's a fair bet that at least half of the village will be destroyed by the end of tomorrow."

"Do you even stand a chance of beating whatever it is that's coming?"

"Well, I have a few tricks up my sleeve that might even out the playing field a bit but in the end… no. The odds are against me on this one, like they have been so many times in the past. Or future. Depends on how you look at it really," I mused.

"You've been in situations like this before?"

I looked Anna in the eye before answering. "I've been in situations where the odds are against me but I've always had some degree of backup. This is the first time where I'm completely on my own."

"Why don't you ask the wizards of this century for help?"

"I have to keep a low profile while I'm here. I've already upset the timeline enough with Ragnarok, if I call the wizards of this century I'm only asking for more trouble."

"Will you even survive? Because despite not telling Elsa the truth she was the happiest I've seen her when she was with you."

I sighed and put down the ward stone. "Anna, I don't know if I'm going to come out of this alive. Frankly, my odds of survival are the flip of a coin," I said and took a quarter out of my pocket and flipped it. "Heads."

When the coin landed it was tails. "When it comes to magic that can't be a good sign," I muttered. "You'd best be heading along to the dining hall, I've still got a lot of work to do before the end of the day."

Anna looked at me for a minute before nodding and turning to leave the room. Before she left she stopped by the doors and looked at me one more time.

"Daniel?"

"Yes, Anna?"

"Thank you for protecting us. You're a good man."

I smiled at the princess before she left and I returned to my work.

Elsa had a lot on her mind that morning, enough that for the first time for the past few days I was not on her mind. Instead it was concentrated on the evacuation of the kingdom. She was broken out of her thoughts by Anna as she was leaving the dining hall.

"Elsa!"

"Yes, Anna?"

"How long has it been since you last talked to Daniel?"

"It was the day before last. Why are you asking?"

"I was just talking to him in the ball room, he was setting up something called a ward stone to protect the palace but that's not important right now. What I'm trying to say is that you should talk to him. He was unsure if he would survive trying to protect Arendelle from whatever it is that's coming. Daniel cares for you a lot and I know you feel the same way about him. If you didn't talk to him and he died I know you'd regret it for a long time. Please go talk to him."

Elsa was quiet for a minute while she thought it over. "Alright, Anna, I'll go talk to Daniel. But it has to be later today. There are things I need to get done today."

The ward stone was in place, the watch had accepted the new focusing crystal, and Danica was nearly done fashioning the Pandoricas' I'd requested. I'd gone over the limited equipment I had in my satchel. Apart from my staff I also had a rune necklace buried deep in one of the pockets that would enhance my natural power and a ring that captured and stored the wasted energy of my body movements until I used it. These items were small and insignificant compared to other things I might have had access to in the twenty-first century, but I needed every advantage I could get even if it was small. Having done everything I could in preparation, I walked to the piano room and started playing another song. It took me a minute to decide what I wanted to play but I finally settled on one song.

 _"_ _Seems like all I could see was the struggle_  
Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past  
Bound up in shackles of all my failures  
Wondering how long is this gonna last  
Then You look at this prisoner and say to me  
"Son, stop fighting a fight that's already been won"

 _I am redeemed_  
You set me free  
So I'll shake off theses heavy chains  
And wipe away every stain  
Now I'm not who I used to be  
I am redeemed  
I am redeemed

 _All my life I have been called unworthy_  
Named by the voice of my shame and regret  
But when I hear You whisper, "Child lift up your head"  
I remember oh God, You're not done with me yet

 _I am redeemed_  
You set me free  
So I'll shake off theses heavy chains  
And wipe away every stain  
Now I'm not who I used to be  
I am redeemed  
I am redeemed

 _I don't have to be_  
The old man inside of me  
'Cause his day is long dead and gone  
Because I've got a new name  
A new life I'm not the same  
And a hope that will carry me home

 _I am redeemed_  
You set me free  
So I'll shake off theses heavy chains  
And wipe away every stain  
Now I'm not who I used to be  
I am redeemed  
I am redeemed

 _I am redeemed_  
You set me free  
So I'll shake off theses heavy chains  
And wipe away every stain  
Now I'm not who I used to be  
I am redeemed  
I am redeemed"

The town had been fully evacuated. The last of the citizens had boarded the ships and departed for another kingdom. Now Elsa was searching the castle for me. My room had been empty, everything looked like it had been packed up. Knowing two other rooms I might be in, the queen walked towards the piano room when she heard my voice coming out from behind the cracked open door and drifting down the hall.

 _"_ _I am redeemed_  
You set me free  
So I'll shake off theses heavy chains  
And wipe away every stain  
Now I'm not who I used to be  
I am redeemed  
I am redeemed

 _I am redeemed_  
You set me free  
So I'll shake off theses heavy chains  
And wipe away every stain  
Now I'm not who I used to be  
I am redeemed  
I am redeemed"

Elsa smiled slightly at the song and when it ended she heaved in a breath before raising her hand to knock on the door.

I sat there by the piano for a minute after I had finished. I sighed and raised my hands to play another song when I felt a burning sensation in my pocket. Yelping slightly I dug my hand into the pocket and pulled out the offender. It was a key and a few other magical odds and ends I had cobbled together to make a crude detector to warn me when Ragnarok was near. Now it was active.

A day early.

I immediately got up and ran out the door only to collide with Elsa who was on the other side of the door.

"Elsa! Are you alright?" I asked as I offered a hand to help her up.

"I think so," she said as she accepted my hand. "Daniel, I need to talk to you."

"Please, not now Elsa. Whatever it is it will have to wait. Ragnarok's here a day earlier than I thought it was going to be. Is the town fully evacuated?"

"Yes, the last ship of citizens just left a little while ago."

"Alright, good, now I don't have to worry about innocents running into the line of fire," I said as I hurried down the hall to my room, Elsa follwing.

As we approached my door she tried to talk to me again. "Daniel, I just need a minute of your time."

"I'm sorry Elsa, I really am, but I don't have a minute. Danica! Please tell me the Pandoricas' are ready!"

Danica came out of her crystal and fixed me with a miffed glare. "These things take some time to make, I only have a few ready."

"How many?"

"Five."

"Five? That's half of what I asked for!"

"Why is this so important all of a sudden?"

"Ragnarok's here today! The medallion I made just went off!"

"That's not good, is everyone out of the village?"

"Yes, now give me what you've got ready. I'm going to need it."

I ran out of the ran out of the palace, the royal family close behind me. I pulled a spyglass out of one pocket and scanned the skies, trying to find Ragnarok.

"What are you doing?" asked Kristoff as they stopped running.

"Trying to find Ragnarok," I said. "I made a crude warning medallion to tell me when it was near and it just went off. It should be in visual range by now. Wait, I think I see it! Hold on, let me magnify the view…"

I twisted the handle of the spyglass and suddenly the color drained from my face.

"No, that's impossible. They went extinct ages ago," I muttered. "No, no, no, no, no, no… please don't be what I think you are…"

"What is it? What do you see?" Anna questioned.

I wiped my eyes before looking through the glass again for confirmation on what I feared. "No, it is."

"It's what? Let me see!" Anna lunged for the spyglass and snatched it right out of my hands before anyone could stop her.

"Anna, wait!" I exclaimed and tried to the glass back.

"What is that?" she asked suddenly, her face several shades paler than normal.

"It's bad. Very bad."

"What is it, Daniel? What did you see?" the Snow Queen asked.

"Elsa, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But I may as well be a fly on a bull here. I'm afraid your kingdom's gone."

"Will you just tell what it is that's coming?" demanded Kristoff.

I heaved in a shuddering breath before answering. "It's a Ragnarok dragon, the most dangerous dragon in existence.


End file.
